The 77th Hunger Games
by beclaar
Summary: Pippa Mayflower is a normal girl from District 12 who is chosen to enter The 77th Hunger Games - the second rebellion had never happened. Her mentors Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark do all they can to help her survive, but will her new found forbidden love ruin her chances of winning? Or will it save her?
1. Chapter 1

Part 1: The Reaping

I stand up from my bed, looking out of the window to see the grey skies of District 12. My stomach aches with hunger; no proper food has entered it in three days. It's the same for my mother, father, and three sisters. Sometimes utter hatred enters my mind when I think of my parents, wondering why they would be so selfish to bring children into a world of starvation, with a chance that one of them may be forced to fight to the death on live television just to entertain the capitol. The Hunger Games. Days like this make me wonder why the Capitol didn't just destroy every single district in the dark days of the war. They want us to suffer, that is the only reason.

My sisters are safe, for the moment. My eldest sister, Bluebell is ten; the other two, Dahlia and Adira, who are twins, are both six. I am not as lucky, the age you have to be to be entered into the games is twelve to eighteen. I am fifteen. Although, what are the chances? I haven't signed up for any tesserae, I have struggled to survive on barely any food because of that cause, so my name is has only been entered once. I have a one in thousands of a chance! This is what I tell my family anyway and they agree. Secretly my heart is pounding in my chest and my stomach flips every time I think of my name being pulled out of that glass bowl.

I walk downstairs, listening to the creak of the steps, wondering if in four hours I will be back home, celebrating with my family, or if I will be walking through the justice building to my death. Yes, I know it will be my death if I go, I am small, not strong and you can count each individual rib above my stomach. Not that is any different for any other district; accept one and two because the Capitol favours them, helps them even. I have no skills whatsoever. I spend most of my days chucking pebbles and rocks at trees, hoping that maybe an apple or some nuts would fall out. I never have much luck. It would be far easier to collect food if I could teach myself to hunt and brave going into the woods, but I could never risk being caught, it's too dangerous. If you are found hunting you can be whipped, or even executed.

We sit down at the dinner table and eat our breakfast; some burnt bread Adira found on the floor just outside of The Seam, in silence. Bluebell looks at me several times willing herself to say something and then thinks better as she can probably see the look of distress on my face. None of us need an argument on the day of the reaping, our precious time as a family may be cut off this afternoon, if I'm that unlucky. I can hear Effie Trinket, our district escort, in my head. 'May the odds be ever in your favour.' The odds can't be in two people's favour anyway. Effie is an odd looking woman, pale white skin and pink hair, the fashion in the Capitol. As I am sure all of the Capitol escorts are, Effie is not exactly sympathetic. Every year she rambles on about how it is an honour to represent your district in the Games. It is more like a death wish if you ask me. I never understand why people would train and volunteer to be in the Games, these people are mostly from District 1, 2 and 4, who get the most food and therefore have the advantage over the rest of the malnourished districts. I'm guessing that is why, so that children who haven't had the time to train, don't have to go in. In a way, I guess they are sacrificing themselves as obviously not all Careers can come out alive and sometimes none do. This is not very often though, looking at them is enough to make you want to surrender and ask for a quick, painless death. I remember once watching a Hunger Games a couple of years ago, where a twelve year old girl practically begged them to spear their knives through her chest as they walked towards her. That was the most brutal year I had seen of the Games.

I help my two sisters get dressed into their finery, tying different coloured bows into their dark blonde hair; they twirl around giggling to themselves about how they look like grown-ups. I can't help but chuckle myself. I then get dressed into my blue pinafore dress, it isn't really finery, but we can't afford anything else.

I wander into my parents' room and lie on top of their bed, inhaling the fresh smell of their pillows. My mother joins me, lying next to me and looking straight into my eyes.

"What are you thinking Pippa?" She asks softly.

"I'm thinking, what if I get picked?" I reply, clearing my throat.

"You won't my darling." Says Mother, but her voice is laced with the slightest bit of doubt.

I do my chores of the morning with Bluebell, hanging the washing, both competing for the silliest place to drape it. We all then sit down for lunch. There is nothing but a few berries my father picked and the remainder of the burnt loaf. We divide it into rations and carefully nibble on our food, making sure we don't eat too quickly. We need to savour everything.

My family and I walk to the square where the reaping is held hand in hand. I can feel that my palms are soaked in sweat due to my anxiety. As we get closer to the square I see the crowds of people and Peacekeepers, feeling more and more uneasy. My stomach doesn't want to hold my food any longer, so I run to the side of the road and rid my body of the small amount of sustenance I have consumed this week. I can feel body still shaking when I get into the square and queue up for the reaping. My parents and siblings give me a kiss goodbye and assure me everything is going to be alright.

"Listen to me Pippa, I promise, you will not be picked." Says Mother, but not very convincingly.

I get into the queue. A Peacekeeper takes my name and pricks my finger, it doesn't hurt much, but I can't help flinching. The weather turns and the teenagers of District 12 stand there, cold and petrified in the pouring rain. Our hair dripping, our noses streaming from the cold.

"Hello young members of District 12!" Says Effie Trinket, our district escort.

I groan to myself, standing alone in the corner of the crowd, not feeling like making conversation with anyone.

Effie talks about the same things as she does every annual Hunger Games, the reason they exist, talking about the dark days. After what feels like hours, the Peacekeepers project a video made by the Capitol, which has already been played seventy six times.

Eventually the reaping is finally commenced.

"Ladies first!" Exclaims Effie.

I hear the panic of the crowd and see a girl try to run out, calling to her mother. She is captured by the Peacekeepers and shot immediately. She only looked about twelve years old. I can hear the cries of her family until they are also taken away, who knows where too. No one else in the crowd reacts much as this is a normal day in twelve, since the security has been heightened.

Effie's face remains calm and she clears her throat.

"Anyway. The first tribute for District 12 in the 77th Hunger Games is,"

I hold my breath while she pauses for effect. You could hear a pin drop at this point. I feel like my lungs are about to explode when I hear her utter the words:

"Philippa Mayflower."

I hear Bluebell cry out, screaming my name.

It takes me at least thirty seconds before it sinks in. They just said my name. I feel my head getting dizzy, and then my legs give way. I feel the Peacekeepers pick me up and carry me to the stage. A noise of pain escapes from my lips. My mother promised. She promised me.

I know that nobody would volunteer for me, we're all cowards here in District 12, if you're picked, that's it. You're going in.

My feet smash to the ground and the Peacekeepers help me to stand upright. I feel that I am about to scream, so many thoughts are flying around my head. Then I remember that the Capitol audience do not pity you, so I regain my composure, every single camera on me.

I look out into the crowd, to see my Mother sobbing on my Father's shoulder, my sisters eyes fixated on me. I give out a forced smile, trying to look confident, though my head feels as if it is burning up.

Effie continues.

"The second tribute is… Caspar Greenlaw."

Him. The boy that has, what felt like, tortured me since I first started school. Making my life a living hell, pulling my hair, kicking my shins, telling the whole school evil tales about my family. I hate him.

I burst out laughing, and then remember that it can't be good for the camera, or for the people of District 12 watching me. That small mistake could cost me something vital in the arena. I quickly close my mouth and force my hand to shake his. He is the one person in this district that I am glad he also will probably not come out alive.

So that's it, Caspar Greenlaw and I, the District 12 tributes.

My body slams into the back wall of a small white room. This is the Tribute Room in the Justice Building. Caspar and I look at each other for a brief moment, while I struggle not to strangle him on the spot. Soon after, we get taken to separate rooms. Tributes get an hour for visits. The only time I get to say goodbye.

I see Mother walk in and I turn around so I am facing the wall. My fists clench and I strike, making a huge dent in the bright white paint. My knuckles start to bleed, dripping blood onto the clean floor. Oh well, I'm not going to be here to pay for it when I'm dead. I turn back around as I remember I don't have long to talk to my family.

"Pippa my darling," Mother says, a tear running down her cheek.

"What?" I hiss.

"You must do everything in your power to win these Games, okay? Not just for me, or you, but for your sisters. They won't be able to cope without you here."

"Why? None of you need me? You could cope fine, I don't help this family, and I'm just a burden, costing more money for you than I'm worth."

Another tear drops down Mother's cheek, she shakes her head.

"No. No Pippa!" She says, raising her voice – suddenly angry.

"I probably won't last an hour. Look at me, I am weak and I have no skills. Nobody will want to form an alliance. No one will even sponsor me after my outburst earlier!" I can feel my face heating up with rage. "Caspar will make sure I'm his first target and we all know that his arrows never miss!"

This was true; I have seen Caspar in the woods before, hunting. His arrows go directly towards his prey's heart. In a week, it will probably be mine.

She froze. Knowing that whatever she says to me won't change anything; we both know I will die.

"Just hug me and go, this is too painful anyway." I choked, trying hard to be strong and hold back the tears.

"Just remember that I love you and I can't wait to see you when you get home. We will make everything lovely for you, make your homecoming better than you can imagine!"

I hugged her tightly, clinging to her like a little girl.

"I love you so much." I reply.

She turned around slowly; raising her hand to her face to wipe away tears. Then she leaves.

Shortly after, my Father walks in, my sisters following him. As soon as they see me Adira and Dahlia sprint, jumping on me and making me topple over. They look at me uneasily, so I start giggling - hoping it will stop the tension. They take this heavy hint and laugh a little too much until my Father tells them to simmer down. He opens his arms and I burrow into his warm arms, protecting me like a shield. I rub my cheek against the soft material of his jumper.

"Now my little fruit pip." Father says, tickling my nose. "You have to be alert at all times, hit with force and dodge their attacks. Okay my little champion?" The first bit of good advice of the day.

"I'll try; I just don't know how I'm going to make it without you." I say, breathing deeply.

His lip wobbles; the power of my words finally hit him. He pulls me into his arms again, as I sniffle quietly. We must be standing for minutes as my youngest sisters start to fidget.

"Shut up you two!" Bluebell snaps.

I walk over to her and stare into her bright blue eyes.

"I can't say anything worthy Pippa, but I know you can do it. I need my big sister and you _will _come back." She said, with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Okay, I'll do it just for you." I reply.

I hug my youngest sisters. They all start to walk away and I blow each of them a kiss. They all pretend to catch them and press them to their hearts. My Father catches my eye and a tear drops to the floor. The door closes and they're gone.

I run to the doorway and touch the patch of ground where his tear fell. My body slowly slides down the wall and I can feel myself curl up into a defensive ball. Tears come out in floods until my hair is dripping wet and my throat hurts. I'm all alone now.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2: The Capitol

In what feels like hours later, I get escorted onto a train to the Capitol. It is huge; every single detail of it is perfect, like nothing I've ever seen before. It must be completely made of gold. Just a simple pot must be worth months of food in the districts. Nobody needs this much luxury, not when there are people dying of starvation.

Caspar sits opposite me, neither of us saying a word. Then we hear the door slide open.

Our mentors stand in the hallway.

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.

They slowly walk towards me and Caspar, hand in hand. They both give us a sympathetic smile and sit on the huge seat opposite us.

"Right, we need to get started." Katniss says firmly.

"Okay, so what are our tactics going to be?" Caspar asks.

"One of the most important things is to form an alliance, with someone strong or trustworthy, hopefully both. You're going to need all the help you can get in the arena. That is the only reason why Peeta and I survived." Explains Katniss.

Peeta nods in agreement.

"So are you two willing to form an alliance?" asks Peeta.

"No." Says Caspar and I, almost in a chorus.

Peeta can probably tell by our body language or the way we answered, that an alliance between us was never going to happen.

"Okay then," Katniss says quickly. "Another thing you are going to have to do, I know this is not normal for mentors to say this to their tributes, but me and Peeta both agree that you should go to the Cornucopia and get weapons and food, as much as you can."

Caspar and I digest what Katniss has just told us. I feel a sharp pain through my chest as I imagine a knife entering that exact spot.

"We'll be dead in seconds!" Caspar says, rising out of his seat.

"Not necessarily." She utters; her face deep in thought.

"If you go and grab your supplies and escape without a moment's hesitation, you will survive the Bloodbath. You just need to stay alert." Peeta interrupted.

The Bloodbath takes place right at the start of the Games; it is everyone's worst nightmare. The bravest tributes run to the Cornucopia to search for supplies while keeping an eye on who is trying to kill you. This starts the preliminary battle; around half that enter the Blood Bath area will be killed, most of the time only the Careers will live through the initial fighting. I remember watching one year, a girl from District 12 barely ran a few steps before a Career's hands grabbed her neck and snapped it.

"We'll do it. Won't we Caspar?!" I glare at him.

Katniss is one of the best tributes District 12, and maybe even the whole of Panem has ever had. I am not going to take her advice lightly.

We then all go to our rooms to get dressed for dinner. It's a gigantic room, with what must be bigger than a double bed, covered in thick velvet sheets. I explore the wardrobe, which you can choose from the hundreds of clothes available, whatever colour or style you want. Also there is a panel on the wall, where you can type in any food you can think of and within a few seconds, it will be on the side table next to the bed. The bathroom is vast, it must be bigger than mine and the twins' rooms put together back at home. The shower has a range of buttons, most of which I don't understand what the use of them is supposed to be. It is incredible.

As I take my dress off, I feel something quite heavy in the folding of one of the sleeves. I unroll it, revealing a small fabric hair clip with the number '12' sewn on. I can tell immediately that it has been made by Mother. The intricate stitching of the patterns is one of Mother's specialities; making everything she designs a work of art. I guess that she was going to save it for one of our birthdays, but decided that maybe it could be a good luck token for me. I tie my long ringlets into a ponytail and use the clip to hold it in place. It is pastel blue with pale pink stitching; Mother knows these are my favourite colours.

I crawl onto the bed and rub my face on the soft sheets. These are so much different to the rough, scratchy bed clothes we have back in 12. I roll onto my back, staring into space as thoughts of home creep into my head. I blink quickly, stopping my thought track as I can't get emotional. Not now and not in the arena. I walk over to the wardrobe and pick the most brightly coloured clothes I can find. I pick a floor length dress, the colour of the midday sun, a cheerful colour. I can't have Caspar knowing I'm scared, that is another weakness. So I have to act unfazed, almost happy, like I don't have a care in the world. The reality is much, much different.

I walk into the dining carriage; Caspar, Katniss, Peeta and Effie all turn around to look at me. Caspar doesn't take a second glance before tucking into his meal, but Katniss, Peeta and Effie all smile.

"Philippa, you look beautiful!" Effie says, instructing me to spin on the spot.

Katniss smiles, but doesn't say anything. I know compliments aren't really her thing. Whereas Peeta agrees with Effie and gives me a quick wink when Katniss isn't looking. I grin at him; this is the first time I have smiled since Effie read my name out this afternoon.

I don't eat much as my stomach is still feeling delicate from earlier. I nibble on a piece of chicken and manage to sip a few spoonfuls of soup. The food is delicious, but I decide to take it easy today as I have a few more days to gorge myself with the Capitol's food. I will have to build up my strength anyway, if I want to survive in the arena.

Sitting at the dinner table I notice that Katniss barely takes her eyes off me the whole time, only to look at the food that she delicately puts in her mouth, or to talk to Peeta.

Peeta.

I don't know what it feels like to have someone that loves you so much that they will do anything for you, even risk their life for you, the way Peeta clearly feels for Katniss. She doesn't know how lucky she is, to have anyone in fact.

I don't have any friends at school; I often sit in a small patch of flooring between the classroom and the cloakroom, hidden by a hanging piece of material. By myself, just how it has always been. The only thing that kept me going through the lonely days of school was letting my mind wander, to stop reality coming through. Everyday my mind would turn to the same daydream: a majestic eagle flying into the cloudy, grey skies of District 12. Picking me up and launching into the skies, away from Panem, away from the Hunger Games, to freedom. I can't imagine this anymore though; my mind cruelly forbids thoughts of happiness. I have already been captured, no opportunity for my beautiful eagle to save me from these cruel games, a certain demise. Just the way the Capitol wants it to be.

After dinner is over I walk into the lounge area and perch on the edge of a seat. I happily sit staring out of the window until the sun starts to set, admiring the scenery as the train passes each district. I particularly enjoy seeing the beaches of District 4, the rays of sun glistening on the water, watching people catch fish in the distance. They all seem a lot happier than the citizens of District 12, even by looking from afar, I see numerous people smiling. This is a rare occurrence in my home.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Caspar walk in, his toes treading lightly, obviously not wanting to interrupt my daydreaming. I turn my head and glare at him, not saying a word. He takes a short, sharp breath. I turn back to face the window, but I can feel him watching me.

"What do you want Caspar?" I sigh impatiently.

"Pippa, I just don't understand why you are acting so coldly towards me,"

I jump up from my seat, standing right next to his face.

"Do you not understand how much pain you have caused me for all of these years? Becoming the laughing stock of our whole school? I can't talk to people because of you. Nobody even wants to talk to me. It's all because of you." I shout at him, emphasising each and every word.

"I, I didn't know that was how you felt Pippa." He said, for once I could see some sort of sincerity in his bright green eyes.

This didn't stop me though.

"How was I supposed to feel?!" I can feel tears running down my cheeks. Why now?

Caspar stands up, his soft hands wiping the droplets from my cheeks.

He looks my straight in the eyes.

"I am so, so sorry." A look of shame crosses his face as he quickly changes his gaze to the floor.

"Just do me a favour Caspar. When you kill me, make it quick. My sisters will be watching." I sit down, burying my face into my knees.

"I won't do it. You know I won't."

"Oh yeah I forgot, you'll get someone else to do it for you." I reply.

I look up to see Caspar reaching for my hand. I know this is all an act so that I will trust him, but I know that the sooner I do, the sooner that arrow will come flying towards me.

I snatch my hand away, get up from my chair and start running.

I don't know where to, but as far away from Caspar and all of the confusion that surrounds him as possible. I stumble into my room and lock the door. I take the beautiful clip from my hair and rub it on my cheek. It starts to get damp rather quickly so I lay it carefully next to me.

At some point, I seem to drift into sleep. I dream of running through the square with Bluebell, Dahlia and Adira to fetch some bread from the bakery, all of us blissfully happy. I look at Bluebell and smile. She doesn't smile back though. This doesn't seem right. I suddenly realize the blood pouring from her mouth. I panic, shaking her lifeless body. She falls to the floor and it is then I can see it. A knife lodged in her head. I run to protect my other sisters, but I see them both struggling to breathe. I can't grasp what is happening before I feel someone's hands wrapped around my neck, I scream until I have no breath yet.

I wake up screaming until I realise it wasn't real. Is this truly what the Games will be like? If so, I don't want to be alive long enough to witness it.


	3. Chapter 3

I get up and check the time, 7am. It takes my eyes a while to adjust to the bright sun beaming through the window. My hands are grasped tightly around something, I then realise it's my hair clip. I quickly slide it into my curls before I have time to think about my family. I tread slowly into the bathroom, walk to the sink and splash freezing water on my face. I look in the mirror to see my eyes swollen, cheeks still red from the night before. It is not a pretty sight. I then get into the shower and stand in there for around ten minutes, pressing button after button and I get out smelling like roses. I notice I am late and quickly run to my wardrobe, getting anything I can find and throwing it on.

It was awkward sitting down for breakfast, Caspar and I not daring to make eye contact. I sit and listen to Peeta's stories while stuffing down chocolate croissants. He has such a way with words, anything he says leaves you mesmerised and wanting more. Katniss continues staring at me, by this point I am feeling rather uncomfortable.

We then see that we are entering the Capitol; you can hear the rumble of the crowds lining up at the station, waiting to see the tributes. Or maybe just to see Katniss and Peeta. As we walk out there are lots of men taking pictures, making my eyes see blotches of white and yellow wherever I walk.

Effie hurries us into a huge glass building. She leads me through to where my prep team will be and Caspar is led through another door. I am left sitting on my own, waiting for them. I start to feel nervous, not knowing what they will do to me, hoping that nothing will hurt too much. As boredom starts to creep upon me three people burst through the doors. I am taken back by their brightness. They introduce themselves as Portia, Octavia and Flavia. I have to say that they are intriguing. Portia has porcelain white skin with tightly curled luminous orange hair. Octavia has intricate designs curving from the corner of her eyes down her face, purple to match the colour of her perfectly straight hair. Flavia looks the most outrageous, her skin tinted blue somehow, with thick black makeup surrounding her eyelids, her hair compacted into corkscrew curls way past her waist.

Being a girl from District 12 who has never even attempted to try makeup, they look quite alarming.

"Hello Philippa, my name is Portia and these are my assistants: Octavia and Flavia." They both give me a quick wave, right on cue.

"Pippa, please." I say nervously.

"Of course honey, I'm sorry!" Portia says, as if it was the biggest mistake she could possibly make.

"Shall we get started then?" Asks Flavia.

For the next hour or so, they rip what feels like every single hair from my body until it is red raw and throbbing. They then put multiple chemicals on my face, peeling off a layer of my skin to 'purify' my face. Why would people in the Capitol inflict pain on themselves for beauty? That just shows how different the poor districts are to the Capitol.

"I think we're just about done now Pippa, I'm sure you are glad to hear." Portia says.

"Will I get to meet my stylist now?" I say hopefully.

"Of course, let me take you in." says Octavia.

We then walk into a silver room with mirrors, dressing tables, and any kind of product you could ever think of. I feel like a movie star. Important. Then I remember that they have done this with every single tribute for seventy seven years.

"Let it be Cinna." I murmur, he knows how to make a tribute stand out and that leads to sponsors, which may lead to victory.

Seconds later, the translucent doors open and I see Cinna walk into the room. I give out an excited yelp and run to him. He smiles and catches me in his arms, hugging me tightly. There is something about him that is so warm, so safe, that I don't want to let go.

"I hope you've got something special for me Cinna, because we haven't got much else to work with." I say timidly, my chest tightening.

"Pippa, we will make you and Caspar the most stand out costumes the Games have ever seen, sponsors will be flooding in. I promise you."

There is something about his voice that makes me calm, it makes my chest return to normal and my stomach suddenly loses the nervous ache it has had for the past two days. His soft tone and the way he can make me feel comfortable in even the worst circumstances; it reminds me of my Father.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, i hope you're enjoying my story :-), please review ideas on how i could improve it, as i want to make it as good as i can, thank you!**

We walk into a room full of clothes, jewellery, makeup and designs pinned across the room.

"Right, time to get you ready!" Cinna says excitedly.

The prep team start with my makeup, smothering my eyes with deep reds and oranges, tinting my prominent cheekbones with purple to make them stand out. My lips are coated in a deep red colour. They then use some kind of gel to make my hair stand high on top of my head and then curl it to the back of my neck. I feel as if I have been sitting for hours, my faces aches and stings.

As soon as I get off the chair, they carefully step me into a black tight dress, one arm completely covered, the other completely bare. The skirt of the dress has so many thick layers that it weighs me down.

"Are you ready to see the finished look?" Cinna asks, his eyes glistening.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

They unveil a full length mirror so I can see my whole body. I can feel my jaw drop open. I look at someone in the mirror, but it can't be me. She looks beautiful. I raise my hand to my face and the person in the mirror copies my movements. I discover this wonder Cinna has created is me. I spin around, the heavy skirt brushing my feet. I look powerful. Not just a tribute to dismiss, and not a little girl anymore. If this doesn't get me sponsors I don't know what will.

We go to meet Caspar in another room. He is wearing a full body suit, the same colour theme as my dress so that we match. He also has layers of the same thick material as I have up his sleeves and in patches on his torso. I have to say, the prep team have made him look extremely good looking, probably to attract the Capitol women that could sponsor him in the audience.

I look at him to see his eyes fixated on me, just how I was when I looked in the mirror, by how much Cinna has managed to change me into a work of art. My eyes also found it hard to revert of him as well, the way they styled his golden brown hair, subtle eye shadow outlining his bright green eyes; he looks more powerful than me. But together, we must look like a formidable force.

"Pippa, I-, wow." Were the only words Caspar could manage to string together.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I said with a grin.

Caspar smiles, his cheeks going red.

Then I remember, I hate him. No I don't. Do I? I don't even know what happened between us yesterday.

"One thing I have to tell you two," Cinna explains. "At the end of the carriage ride, something is going to happen to your outfits, I'm not going to tell you what, but keep in your position until after it has finished. It won't hurt. Okay?"

We both nod.

Then Cinna and the prep team take us to the hall, the place we go before the chariot rides. We will be the last to take off around the loop of the track as we are the final District.

This is the first time we see the other tributes. We are the last in the room, immediately most of them turn around, eyeing us up. I see the pack of five Careers, looking extremely intimidating, but no way near as perfect as me and Caspar. One career catches my eye though. He must be way over six foot, towering over the rest of the careers, with short brown hair and entrancing hazel eyes. He is well built, his muscles rippling through his body suit. He's definitely going to be hard work to kill, unless he gets to me first, which he probably will. I sigh at the thought, which makes him turn around, glaring at me. A Career with long blonde hair hits him on the arm, craving his attention. Once he faces his original direction I let my face show the disgust I am thinking.

"Look at the District 3's" Caspar whispers in my ear.

I follow the direction in which he is pointing to see a blonde girl and boy, wrapped in glowing wires. I chuckle at the sight of how ridiculous they look. The blonde girl turns around, she looks very innocent. In fact, she reminds me Primrose; Katniss' sister, who I've seen being interviewed on the television when Katniss was in the arena.

I scan the rest of the crowd, there I see the District 8 tributes, whose stylists haven't done badly for once, their costumes made in tiny patches of what must be thousands of fabrics. I see one girl standing by herself, dressed as a sea creature, a mermaid in fact. She shuffles from foot to foot, biting her nails and occasionally smoothing her strawberry blonde hair. I soon work out she is from District 4 and her district partner has left her for the Careers. I know it won't help her much but if she wants, I'll ally with her.

Caspar and I eventually get in our chariots.

"Caspar, hold Pippa's waist for support." Says Cinna.

God, I hope the Capitol audience don't mistake me and Caspar for a couple.

"I want both of to stand still looking straight forward, I don't want you to smile." Cinna articulates. "But, after the change happens, and you'll know what it is; I want you both to smile and wave. Then you'll have them desperate to sponsor you."

Each pair of tributes starts off. Most of them waving, a few pairs not reacting to the crowd, and weirdly the District 1 careers growling at the audience. I guess that's one way to grab their attention…

Caspar and I focus, the District 11's chariots beginning to move. We are next.

He grabs my waist tightly, making me flinch.

"It's okay, we can do this." He whispers out of the corner of his mouth.

Our chariot starts moving. I concentrate on looking forward. No facial expression to be shown. I feel Caspar's arm tense. The crowd roar as soon as they see us, obviously thinking the same as I thought when I first saw myself. We stay still as statues, my eye line fixing on the chariot in front. I then see District 11's chariot veer off to the right, meaning we're more than half way to the finish. The crowd's noise dies down as they have now seen all of the Tributes. I wonder if Cinna's surprise is going to work, as I'm sure the Capitol are expecting something even better than we already appear.

Our chariot turns in a semi-circle and soon enough, we are moving straight again.

I suddenly feel heat rush up my body, shocking me so that I almost fall backwards. Luckily, Caspar still has a firm hold of me. I still feel hot and opening my eyes, all I see is a rippling wave of orange in front of my eyes.

Then I realise, just like Katniss and Peeta were, we are on fire.

This though, is much better. We hear the audience gasp and the Tributes in the chariots in front turn around and their mouths drop open.

The flames then subside and I look down to see the thick material that was once my skirt has burnt away leaving a tight black dress covered in diamonds patterning all over. The crowd are on their feet as me and Caspar wave, smiling ear to ear, so happy for Cinna. He could be our saviour.

Once our chariot rides are finished I jump into a surprised Caspar's arms and hug him closely.

"We did it!" I said, feeling great joy in my heart.

"We sure did!" He said, looking just as pumped.

We look around at the other tributes, some amazed by us, some looking like they're about to murder us; oh the irony, and some even looking happy for us. The girl from District 4 walks up to Caspar and me, congratulating us on an amazing show.

"Thank you!" Caspar says brightly. "You also look beautiful."

What a charmer.

"I definitely agree." I say with less enthusiasm.

I then see the stylists walk in from a small door in the corner of the hall. I sprint to Cinna, grabbing Caspar by the hand and dragging him with me. We both run to him, with a bit too much power. All three of us topple over in a giggling heap on the floor. When we get up I see the blonde career pretending to gag at the sight of us. This makes me laugh more, knowing we outshined her. In the back of my mind I remember, this will make us higher in the order for her to kill. But for a moment, none of this matters.

I kiss Cinna's cheek, as he puts one of his arms around my back, and one around Caspar's.

"Cinna, you are a true genius." I announce.

"I just try to do anything I can to get my twelves' sponsors, it's the least I can do."

That is one thing I love about Cinna, how humble he is. He can create outfit's that helps us and past tributes, such as Katniss and Peeta, to live. That's the best gift he can give us. As each minute passes, I start to feel more and more confident that I may be able to win these Games.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, i hope you're enjoying this, from now on im going to post longer chapters so you can read more at a time, sorry for making them so short haha, review if you can please c:, thank you!**

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My mind is a blur of excitement, happiness and confusion until dinner.

As we walk in to the dining room, Effie jumps up and down enthusiastically, running to us both and kissing us delicately on either side of our cheeks. Peeta and Katniss both hug us tightly, seeming genuinely happy for our success.

"Don't think it will be an easy ride from now on though." Katniss says.

"Yeah, you have training tomorrow guys and it's extremely important that you both do well and learn as much as you can." Peeta adds.

"Well what do you suggest?" I ask.

"I think-." Say Katniss and Peeta at the same time.

They giggle.

"You say it," Peeta laughs, looking into Katniss' eyes.

"Okay so, you don't want to show off your skills to the other tributes because immediately in the arena they will try to take the advantage off you by stealing your weapons." Katniss says, more seriously now.

"You need to go to as many survival skill stations as possible to learn how to hunt. I regret not doing that, but luckily I had Katniss for me." Says Peeta.

"I already know how to hunt; I can use a bow and arrow." Caspar said proudly.

Katniss smiles at him.

"I have nothing." I reply flatly.

"Try something in training then, but if you find you're good, save it until your private training sessions." Katniss answers.

I sit there for the rest of the meal, silently filling myself up while Caspar, Katniss and Peeta talk about their talents, I feel useless. The thoughts of confidence have flooded out of my head now that I have remembered; sponsors will do nothing if I have no survival skills or no killer instincts.

After I have finished my meal I stand up from the table and leave, giving no warning or farewell's to anyone. I hear Peeta shouting my name but I continue walking, forcing myself not to give in to him or any of them.

I lock myself in my room and step quietly into the shower. I am in there for hours, sitting on the shower floor, the warm droplets falling down my back. I think about my eagle, crashing through the skylight window of the bathroom, taking me to safety. Soon enough I can taste the flavour that is trapped in my tears. I get up, not bothering to get dressed and collapse on my bed, feeling numb.

More nightmares come, but I am prepared. After being woken three times I give up trying to rest anymore. I reach to my hair but I can't feel anything. My fingers grab for the clip, frantically searching all through my hair. It isn't there. I start to panic, searching through my bed covers, throwing the soft velvet sheets in a heap on the floor. I look through the draws of my dresser, the cabinet in my bathroom, my wardrobe. I can't find it anywhere. My breathing accelerates, until I feel my heart thumping in my chest. _I must find it. _I think to myself. I hunt for it until sunlight and finally give up when I have searched in every possible place. I change into a comfortable tracksuit Cinna designed for my training later and walk down to the dining room, feeling deflated.

I walk in to see the rest of the Tributes also in the dining room all on separate tables. I look for Caspar, to find him sitting with the girl from District 4 and the boy from 8. I try to walk straight past them without Caspar knowing so I can eat in peace. No such luck.

"Oh Pippa! Come here, I have some people who want to meet you." Caspar says, gesturing.

"No offense, but I'm really not in the mood." I reply, combing my hair with my fingers.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I have something of yours!" He says searching through his pockets. "It fell out of your hair yesterday when we were on the chariots, I caught it just in time."

He produces my clip out of his pocket, slightly fluffy from the new tracksuit, but no damage done.

I wrap my arms round his neck and hold on tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" I shout.

"So are you two a couple or something?" asks the boy from 8, flicking his hair casually.

"No." I say, backing away from Caspar.

"Oh yeah, Pippa. This is Austin." Caspar says, his hand patting the boys shoulder. "And this is Gracia."

The red headed girl nods at me.

"Nice to meet you," I say, quietly.

We then head off to training. I keep in mind what Katniss has instructed me and Caspar to do and I start in the survival area.

I greet a very nice man in the hunting workshop, this for me, will be the trickiest so it's better to start it first. I'm not at the station alone. Another girl with dark brown eyes and long black hair joins me; she strongly resembles a panther, sly and cunning. She looks me up and down and immediately dismisses me. How lovely. We learn to make snares, which I find out is exceptionally difficult. You have to be extremely precise with your measurements and placing, it took me two hours to master. After an hour the panther girl seems to get bored and breaks her trap in half.

"Have fun Pip, or whatever your name is." She taunts.

I feel a lump in my throat; how can she make me feel so small? The man sympathises with me, giving me extra tuition and, eventually, I manage to set up a complex snare.

I walk through the training centre, dreaming the day away as I think about what I should try next. I am so unaware of where I am going that I walk straight through some of the workshops, stepping on paint accidently, knocking over manikins, but my mind just can't focus.

I continue walking when I hear a boy shout my name. I turn my head to see a knife flying towards me. Without thinking I swerve from the blade and briskly catch it with two of my fingers. I stand staring at the knife for a number of seconds before I hear clapping. It starts with the workshop helpers and grows, Caspar joins in, he obviously saw it happen as he has beads of sweat multiplying on his forehead. The hazel eyed Career that threw the knife walks over confidently. I stand defensively; arm out so he can retrieve the dagger with no malice.

"Good one twelve." He says with a slight smile from the corner of his mouth. I don't know what to think of this.

I walk to the fire starting station, along with Caspar, Austin and the girl from 3.

"That was close Pippa, you need to start looking out, if you act that way in the Games, you'll be dead in seconds." Caspar says, looking concerned.

I decide that I don't care.

"Whatever." I reply as I start rubbing bits of wood together, even though I had not been instructed to do so.

I quickly learn how to start a fire with no matches. For the rest of the session I move to camouflage, edible plants and knots. I would say that it was an eventful but quite successful day. I've found one good survival skill though and dodging those knives will be vital.

I can't wait to tell Katniss something I'm actually proud of.

Caspar makes my announcement for me at dinner.

"You should have seen it, the way the Career threw his knife and Pippa spun around it and caught it. It looked natural to her." I have to say, Caspar is slightly growing on me.

"Excellent!" Peeta says, with that heart melting smile.

I feel my cheeks burn up. I'm not used to any praise at all, let alone from a victor of The Hunger Games.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning I wake up early, eager to resume training. I stuff down breakfast and sprint to the training centre, not bothering to wait for Caspar. I walk in and straight away go to the station that has been in the back of my mind the whole time. Archery. As Katniss has shown, bow and arrows are extremely effective ways to kill. If I could be half as good as her, I could raise my chances of winning by at least a hundred. Or maybe that is wishful thinking.

I walk up to the arrows, gliding my fingers over them before I pick a perfectly symmetrical one. I take a bow and slot the arrow in place. Closing one eye, I position my arrow.

I aim carefully and shoot. It flies and hits the back wall, I hear sniggering behind me. I turn around to see panther girl, looking smugly at me. I can feel rage building inside me. Who was I kidding thinking I would have the skills Katniss has had from hunting for years? It's a joke. I throw the bow on the floor and walk away, feeling deflated.

I then decide to go to the blades. There are a range of swords, throwing knives and spears. I'm almost certain that I will be worse at the throwing knives than I was at the archery, but I persuade my mind to resist the urge to walk away without trying. I choose a small, sharp knife that is light to touch and probably feather weight to throw. I look around, making sure that if I miss, I could not injure any of the other tributes by perhaps lodging a knife in their backs. As I look around I see the panther girl staring intently, waiting for me to fail. This makes me even more determined; I can't make a fool of myself.

My arm flicks the blade swiftly; I flinch as the knife leaves my fingertips, anxious of how I will be seen if I miss. The outcome is pleasing, slightly off centre, but snuggly placed in what would be the dummy's shoulder blade.

I agree with myself to try again, putting in even more focus. I launch the dagger, hitting the dummy with twice as much precision, entering the dummy's chest, where its heart would lie.

I quickly move on, remembering what my mentors said about keeping my strengths for the private training sessions, so I decide to preserve it to myself. I can't even bring myself to tell Caspar. Then again, why should I? I don't owe him anything. Yet.

At lunch I sit with Caspar, Austin, Gracia, and Austin's district partner, Eilish. She is very quiet, seems like a dreamer; meaning I like her. As we tuck into our meals I decide to converse with someone, as I don't want them to ally with Caspar and leave me on my own. Although, I am starting to think that being on my own is the better option. Austin seems like a good choice to begin with, he is confident and friendly. I start the conversation awkwardly; not quite knowing what to say, but Austin picks up on my anxiety and helps to guide the discussion.

"So Pippa, tell me about your family." He asks intently.

"I don't really know how to start," I say, my eyes pricking at the mention of my family. "I have three younger sisters, all too young to be entered in the Games and I have two parents, my mother and my father, obviously."

"Do you not have any further family?"

My mind thinks through a muddle of aunts, uncles and cousins. All dead, all forgotten.

"I did." I quietly answer.

"How did they..?" Austin asks, probably afraid that his question is too personal.

"Starvation. My family could barely scrape through themselves so we couldn't help them. In the days before they died we saw them searching for any leftovers they could find, being forced to eat dirt and droppings. Then we found them in their house." I say, shuddering at the memory. "They were spread over the floor, each one of them, a family of six, crippled and disfigured. You could see the pain in their eyes, the wasting of their skin, even though their hearts were no longer beating." I say, feeling tears creep into my eyes.

"I'm so sorry." Austin replies, solemnly.

I look up to see the rest of the table have frozen, obviously listening to our conversation. I hear Gracia sniffle in the corner.

"But that was a long time ago, it doesn't matter anymore." I say, though I fail to mention the recurring nightmares of that day.

I quickly change the subject onto his family in District 8.

"I have two brothers, two sisters and my parents." He answers.

"How do you get through the year?" I gasp.

"We live in quite a wealthy part of 8, so we never have to miss a meal. I tell my parents that it's selfish, while there are starving people at our doorstep but they tell me it's the way life goes." He retorts, guiltily.

"Oh, that's lucky for you." I hear come out of my mouth, not sure of anything else to say.

"Yep, I guess."

I decide not to say anything else, in case I say something wrong, meaning he will not like me. Now that I have been picked for the Games I have to choose every word as carefully as possible. This is to make sure I don't give anything away to my opponents, or to make any extra enemies. On the enemy count so far I think I have two, perhaps three: the panther girl, the blonde Career and possibly the Career that almost stuck a knife in my scalp. I'm still not sure about him though, he doesn't seem friendly, but he certainly didn't seem angry that the knife didn't kill me.

After lunch we resume our second day of training. I decide to go to the tree scaling station, where there are many make shift trees, ranging in size, thickness and difficulty. I am light, meaning that I have already got an advantage over any of the Careers. I just need to hope I have a natural ability.

No, is the answer.

At first I try calculating my route, finding strong looking branches that I can lay my feet upon, I find a few, but the distance between them is the problem. I lift my leg up to the full extent of its flexibility, straining my muscles. I manage to wedge my foot in a small opening in the bark, grab a branch and attempt to pull up my body weight. I get about two branches high before I realise I do not have enough strength to carry on. I jump of the tree clumsily, not being able to land effectively either and end up in a painful position on the floor. I manage to stand up, rubbing the tree bark residue off of my soft tracksuit. I make sure my clip is still tightly tucked in my curls – as I have been at least twice an hour – before I walk out of the training centre, seething with rage and sadness.

I find a quiet corner in the hall, covered by a thick curtain and tuck my knees up so that no one will be able to find me. My nose starts running and before I know it I am sobbing uncontrollably, again; I'm getting sick of it now, it makes me feel weak. I hear footsteps make their way into the hall, forcing myself to silently cry, my body spasms as I try to control my breathing.

"I don't know where she could have got to. Is she really going to do this every time something doesn't go her way?" I hear Effie Trinket say.

"I'm sure she's just a bit emotional, Effie." A voice matching Katniss' replies.

My ears prick up; there must be a mistake, that can't be Katniss.

"Yes Katniss, I know," My suspicions have been correct. "But she doesn't have to be so miserable. She is in the Capitol, she should be savouring every minute of it."

To my surprise I hear Katniss' voice rise into a shout.

"Effie, I know you don't know what it is like to be in the Games, but think about how much this will affect her! You're deluded if you think she is going to be stable when in less than week she will be killing people."

"She won't get far enough to think about it," Effie replies, uncharacteristically cold.

"Believe me, she will. I have been watching her the past few days and after what Caspar has said about her deflecting skills, I'm sure she could easily get past everyone, just from the intelligence I know she holds, she can read people Effie, she knows." A new flood of tears occur when I hear how Katniss defends me, happy to know she thinks I have a chance. "The only thing that could stand in her way will be the Careers, and even if she doesn't get past them, everyone from District 12 will be extremely proud of her, including me and Peeta."

Effie doesn't answer; I'm guessing out of shock that Katniss screamed at her just because she made, what Effie thinks as, a minor comment. My heart thumps with pride, knowing my idol thinks I'll be able to survive.

The sound of the door closing makes me rise to my feet and open the curtain I was hiding behind. I take a step forward before I find that Katniss is still in the room, sitting on a chair, head buried in her hands.

I gasp, making her head rise. Her eyes widen and I see her eyes flicker at the realisation that I just heard what she said.

"Don't tell Caspar?" She asks, pleadingly.

"I won't, thank you." I whisper back.

She smiles at me. "I believe in you Pippa." She then stands up and walks out of the room.

I don't bother going back to training, too many thoughts are drowning my head anyway, and I'll probably walk in front of a knife again. I go back to my room, then realise I still have three hours until dinner. I pace my room, back and forth until my bruised leg starts to ache. I choose to take a nap as my head is aching along with my leg.

I manage to escape reality into happy dreams of me and my eagle, soaring across the sky out of Panem. These are my favourite kinds of dreams, though I don't have them often. I wake up, feeling refreshed, making sure I don't recollect this afternoon's events.

Dinner was uneventful. The tension between Katniss and Effie made an unbearable silence throughout the meal, so we all ate quickly and retreated to our rooms.

It was after dinner that I noticed something. It was probably nothing worth noticing – my imagination playing the key part in what I am thinking. I walked into my room, got changed into my nightclothes ready to go to sleep when I saw two shadows under the crack of my door. I quietly crept up to the door and looked through the large key hole to be able to see outside. I can only vaguely see two figures out of the corner of my eye.

I could hear a boy, whose voice sounded exactly similar to Caspar's, whisper, presumably to the other figure.

"Azure," Said the voice.

They then walk closer and I find the boy is Caspar, who is with the girl from District 3 who wore the ridiculous wires on the chariot rides, who must be Azure.

"I'm sorry, if I could have I would have seen you after dinner, but I was with Pippa." Caspar says.

I'm confused, partly by the words he utters, and also by the tone of his voice, soft and seductive. I then think back to training, scanning through the thoughts of all that has happened today, and then remember. A split moment between my scaling of the tree and then falling off, I recall sitting a branch examining the training centre. I saw the Career's standing sinisterly, laughing as one of them slices the head off a dummy. I then remember looking to see Gracia, Austin and Eilish trying to start fires. Caspar wasn't with them. I saw panther girl sitting, facing the wall, possibly making something and I quickly reverted my gaze to the corner of the room. I see Caspar and Azure, sitting together whispering and smiling. That is how they know each other. I suddenly feel a pang of jealousy in my chest, though it isn't because I feel anything for Caspar other than confusion and sometimes hatred, but I can't think of what it may be. This I am sure of though, Caspar is not spending time with Azure out of love or friendship, everything he does leads directly to what is best for him. He is probably trying to work out her weaknesses, as he did try to do with me, by flirting. It's not a genius plan, but Azure doesn't seem to be thinking about this. She should though, because nobody can trust anyone, this is The Hunger Games.

I decide to stop listening to the conversation as I don't want to spend the night thinking of the possible outcomes of their cosy chats. I need rest. I crawl into bed and within a few minutes, I fall asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

It dawned on me when I woke up that this is the final day of training, and that tomorrow I will have my private training session with the Gamemakers. The reminder that I have nothing to show makes me shiver. I guess I could throw a knife? My only real skill is evasion, but there is no way I can show the Gamemakers that with only me in the training centre. I decide to think about this tomorrow and go straight to the regular training session, hoping in the far corner of my mind that I could gain something today that will help me get a high score.

I trail into the training centre, feeling embarrassed by actions yesterday. Panther girl raises her eyebrows at me, widening her feline eyes and turning up the corner of her mouth into a cynically sweet smile, making my stomach churn. Caspar calls me over, but after what happened, or didn't happen yesterday, I simply ignore him and make my way to an unoccupied station, which happened to be fishing. The hooks themselves were extremely problematic to create, but that had no comparison to the actual reeling of the fish. I made a hook out of a thorn by carving the end with my sharp nails. The leader of the workshop was quiet, but once I made my hook he nodded happily at me. When it came to the fishing, I was not as skilled. By the time a fish had bitten the hook, my mind had already wandered. After two or three times I concentrated out of sheer frustration. I managed to catch an insignificant fish about the size of my finger. I sigh, thank the helper and wander off.

I decide to try using a spear next. I'm unsure whether to throw the spear, or keep it in my hand for practise of arm to arm combat. The second option sounds more feasible as I am already quite handy with the throwing knives. The helper at the station advises me to try and stab the spear as far within the dummy as possible. I raise my eyebrows at her, wondering why she is trying this tactic with someone as feeble as I am. I turn around and walk back anyway, ready to charge at the densely padded dummy. I position my toes and start to sprint, my feet padding across the soft floor; I raise my arm then force the spear forwards, as I feel strength ripple through my arm. As the spear enters the manikin I hear a crunch, my elbow throbbing. I shake out my arm, feeling my face going red. As I inspect the spear I see only half of it has gone through the dummy, but still it's better than I expected.

"Ouch 12!" Shouts a Career from a few metres away.

"I do have a name you know!" I snap.

"Alright, I'm Griffin and you are?" He laughs.

"Pippa."

"Nice name." He replies.

He's mocking me, I know it. I turn away from him and bite the inside of my lip, unsure why everyone is making an enemy of me. I haven't accidently killed anyone yet, I'm obviously number one on most of their target lists though. I won't last five seconds.

I look around the tedious training centre, seeing if there are any more workshops I feel I can face. None come to mind so I decide to go back to the throwing knifes. I'll only stay briefly, I tell myself. The rest of the crowd of tributes seem busy, paying no attention to me, so this was the perfect time to practice.

I briskly walk over to the blades, selecting a knife slightly bigger than last time. It is heavier, so if used, it would do more damage. I position my feet one in front of the other and pull my arm back. With a flick the knife flies, my heart skipping a beat, anxious about the outcome. I hear a slicing sound, the knife landing perfectly in the manikin's forehead. Exactly where I aimed. I look around to check nobody is watching me, nope, I can move on. I pick up a large sword, curved at the edges. It is much heavier than the last one so my arms cannot find a comfortable position for the sword to lie. I lunge forward, sending it flying, but at a peculiar angle. The sword starts to curl, as if the air is pushing it away from the dummy, it misses and hits the back wall. I decide that I'll stick with the smaller knives.

We are then instructed to go to dinner; I start to regret missing those crucial hours of learning survival skills, although I just hope I've done enough. I sit with the same people at dinner: Caspar, Austin, Eilish and Gracia, although we are joined by a new boy, from District 7 I think.

"Hi, I'm Storm." He says.

He is very odd, but somehow good looking, with silver hair and bright blue eyes. He has a gentle smile, with deep dimples on each side of his cheeks.

"Pippa," I reply and I can't help but grin, he is so endearing.

We sit and eat dinner, together instead of with our mentors, chatting as if we are all good friends. I gorge myself on the delightful food, filling myself up until I can't eat anymore.

After dinner I say goodnight to everyone and make my way up to my room with Caspar. We stand in the elevator; this is when I bring up the topic that has filled my mind for the last day or so.

"So what's going on with Azure?"

Caspar tenses, his eyes directing to the floor.

"Not much, why?" He replies, anxiously.

"Oh. Well it's just that I heard you two whispering outside our rooms the other night, anyone would think that there is something going on." I say, looking him directly in the eye.

The corner of his mouth turns up and Caspar laughs.

"What are you jealous or something?" He replies, coldly.

"You really haven't changed a bit have you?"

"Listen Pippa, why would I make something happen between me and Azure? I mean come on, we might be forced to kill each other, it's just tactics, you know." He replies, but then his eyes flicker as he realises how evil that sounded. "Wait. I didn't mean it like that."

"That's exactly what you meant Caspar."

The elevator doors open and I sprint into my room, Caspar shouting behind me. I then slam the door. I decide to make nothing of it, he hasn't changed and so I need to stop thinking that he will.

I climb into bed and lay facing the ceiling. My eyes don't feel heavy, so I find it hard to close them while I am thinking so much. I block out the bad thoughts and decide to think about home. My parents, my sisters and I, all happy before any of this happened. A small smile forms as I think of the times of telling them stories, the happiness on their faces when I managed to get us a loaf of bread. Between all these happy memories, my eyes slip shut and I fall asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

I wake up. Two days before the arena. Today is the day that I get my training scores. My whole time in the arena will depend on this day. I change into my comfortable tracksuit that Cinna designed for me and begin to walk around and stretch out my muscles.

I walk down to breakfast, making sure I avoid Caspar on the way. I struggle to eat anything more than a piece of bread as butterflies are whirling around my stomach. The atmosphere is very subdued; you can tell everyone is nervous – even the Careers - as we all eat half the portions than we would normally. After breakfast is over, tributes start being called in for their private training sessions. The butterflies are so intense by now I am worried that my bit of bread may make a re-appearance. Slowly the dining room begins to empty as I watch the Careers stride out confidently, to the twelve year olds of five and six, until it is seven's turn to go in. Panther girl rises from her seat and shoots me a look, then flicks her long black hair over her shoulder and walks out. I grit my teeth.

The only people I know left in the dining room by now are Me, Caspar, Austin and Eilish. I pace across the room, trying to take my mind off of my stomach.

"Pippa, sorry but could you stop? You're making me feel dizzy." Said Eilish politely, she herself looked a bit green.

"Sorry." I replied, sitting down and tapping my feet on the floor.

"Oh, looks like it's my turn." Austin says, crossing his fingers.

"Good luck!" Caspar shouts as he walked out of the room.

Soon enough it is time for Eilish to commence her training, followed by the tributes from nine, ten and eleven, leaving me and Caspar sitting in the huge dining room in silence, only the tapping of my feet echoes across the room.

Caspar is called in.

"Good luck," I manage to cough out.

He smiles lightly at me and shakes out his limbs, and then he is also gone, leaving me alone to think out my strategy.

I could throw a couple of knives? Maybe try the spear again? That is not enough. I need to think of a way to show the Gamemakers my skills, my _proper _skills, but how? I have barely had time to think before I am signalled to enter the private training room. I stand up, my knees shaking the exact way that they did on reaping day.

I enter the room, to see twenty or so Gamemakers staring directly at me, paying more attention than I expected. I walk over to the blades. I pick a large knife, hoping that this time, I will be successful. The Gamemakers eyes follow me across the room until I stand parallel to a dummy, which I can see has already been practised on, a lot. I raise the knife to my shoulder, as I have done many times before. I flick my wrist and the knife burrows deep into the heart of the dummy. The Gamemakers give each other nods of recognition, but I still haven't done enough.

I panic, the palms of my hands getting damper and damper. I have nothing else.

The Gamemakers start to fidget, standing up and getting food. I'm losing them. Then, a thought crosses my mind, not an amazing one, but still, a plan at best.

"Excuse me," I say, my throat croaking.

None of them hear me.

"Excuse me!" My voice turns into a shout.

"Yes Philippa?" Says a man with a curled moustache, probably the Head Gamemaker.

"Could I have an assistant, to help me show my skills please?" I ask, knowing this could go one of two ways. Yes or no.

"And what do you want this assistant to help you with young lady?" He replied.

"I want them to throws knives at me." As this came out of my mouth I could immediately hear how ridiculous it sounded.

They all stared at me as if I was mad; accept the man with the moustache, who looked intrigued.

"I don't see why not, just don't die on us." He said, laughing.

This made me wince.

"Thank you." I replied through gritted teeth.

I then see a person in white overalls walk through the door. They seem nervous themselves; I just have to hope they have a good aim to make it more impressive.

"Are you okay to do this?" I ask, which sounds like a stupid question.

I small whimper comes out of their mouth and they nod. Their hood falls down and I see long red hair flow out. Why doesn't she just answer?

She picks out a selection of knives out of her left pocket and walks over to me. The girl looks at them and then looks back at me.

"I don't understand," I say, confused.

I hear a sigh come from the balcony of people, so I glare at them.

She makes a small noise, unable to reply.

"Can't you see? She's an Avox, she can't talk!" I then remember what and Avox is, a person that has disobeyed the Capitol or done an act of treachery, so the Capitol cut off their tongue, making them unable to talk for the rest of their lives.

I look at her sympathetically and point to a medium sized knife.

"Thanks," I say quietly.

This is it, the moment where I discover if my evasion last time was just luck, if so, I certainly die. Then who knows what will happen to my district? Will they pick another tribute?

The Avox girl picks up the blade and nods, indicating her throw.

She hurls the knife and it flies through the air. Then in succession throws two more. I veer left, then right, dodging the first two blades. The second is not so successful, it flies towards me at an awkward angle and I am not able to anticipate the target it has. I fall backwards just as the knife skims my head, cutting off some of my hair.

Once the knives have lodged in the wall, I stand up and delicately place my hand on my head. Not too much damage done thankfully.

I look up to the Gamemakers hopefully, some start applauding, some still in shock. I look around smiling, grateful they admire my skills. My eyes scan the balcony until they set on the Head Gamemaker. He sits there, frowning at me, not impressed at all. I feel a wave of frustration rise up my body.

I scowl back, then storm off, kicking the blades as I make my way to the door. I slam it shut and walk up to my room.

The first thing I do is look in the mirror, to see small tufts of hair only around ten centimetres long on the left side of my head. I gasp, covering my head with my hand and close my eyes, hoping that when I open them, my hair will be back miraculously. I open my eyes slowly, to see it wasn't an illusion. I sigh, though I know my stylists will be able to do something with it. I shower quickly, scenting myself with roses. I then go to my wardrobe and flick through every single outfit on the control panel; I know it doesn't matter too much but I want to look my best. I choose a striking black dress, similar to the one I wore in the chariots, with a long tailing back. I scrape what is left of my hair into a bun and leave the sliced bit of hair tucked behind my ear.

I walk down to the dining room, only two more evenings before all of this will be taken away from me and I may probably not even be here. I eat as much food as I possibly can, noticing that I have already gained a lot of strength for the arena within the few days I've been here, which brightens my mood slightly.

After dinner, Me, Caspar, Katniss, Peeta and Effie all walk to a bright red room with a huge projector across the front wall. In two minutes time, the airing of our training scores will begin. I sit between Caspar and Peeta, deciding that being bitter to Caspar now will end up being worse off for me later.

The programme begins and a man with lilac hair jumps onto stage and they audience give a huge applause. He introduces himself as Caesar Flickerman. After some initial joking and chatting to the crowd, he begins the training scores.

I feel Peeta and Caspar tense as well as myself. Caspar gently takes my hand before gripping it tightly for comfort. I don't argue with this as I need all of the reassurance I can get.

A picture of each individual tribute fade onto the screen one by one, Caesar then says their name and the training score appears next to their faces. It seems simple, but being the last district to get our results, it feels like hours of waiting, though I try to memorise each tribute.

The Careers obviously all get tremendous scores of nine and ten. I see Griffin's face appear onto the screen next, Griffin Lockhearst. I also expect him to get a nine or ten. I cannot say I am surprised though, when I see the number eleven appear next to him.

Caspar puts his head in his palms and curses.

Azure manages to get an eight, I raise my eyebrows. I glance over in Caspar's direction to see no smile or any sign of happiness cross his face, not even a wince at Azure's achievement. Angry at how emotionless he is being, I pull my hand away and place it on my lap.

I see Gracia's profile appear with the number six next to it, average but not terrible. I start to feel even more anxious as the scores continue. The young children of District five and six struggle to get anything above a five, my heart pangs with their pain. District seven now lights up the screen to see Storm, scoring a very respectable nine, me and Caspar both clapping our hands lightly. Panther girl's feline eyes then appear on the screen, I grip onto my seat tightly from the annoyance I feel. She also scores a nine; it is now my turn to put my head in the palm of my hands, my face flushing hot.

Austin and Eilish are next, both scoring an eight making me and Caspar rise to our feet as well as Katniss and Peeta, Effie stays seated but claps politely. I'm sure Caspar will ally with them.

Nine, ten and eleven also appear; the highest they get is a six also.

It is now District 12's scores. Caspar and I are at the edges of our seats, beads of sweat on our foreheads, this determines everything.

"Caspar Greenlaw." Caesar announces.

A number slowly fades onto the screen, all of our eyes squinting to try and see it first. As soon as it comes into focus it is clear. Ten.

Caspar rises from his seat, punching the air with his hand, a huge grin on his face. He then sits back down once he remembers I am yet to have got my score. None of us can keep still.

"Philippa Mayflower."

I feel sick, so sick that I think I need to run out right now, but I can't. I just need to see. See how low the cruel Gamemakers have scored me. The number begins to formulate on the screen, our mouths open in anticipation. It becomes clear. Nine. Career standard.

My mouth gapes open, confused of how I could get such a high score. I am brought back to life by Katniss and Peeta hugging me tightly, both of them kissing my forehead. Effie pats my back, reassuring me that she knew I could do it. _Liar._ I think in my head. Caspar opens his arms, his eyes lighting up, willing me to hug him. I walk into his arms, refusing to repay the hug myself. As soon as he lets go I turn away and resume talking to my mentors.

Soon after I walk back to my room, giddy about my score. I dive onto my bed, humming a small tune to myself, occasionally adding the word 'nine' into it. I pull the duvet over my head and take out my clip, clasping it in my hand as I drifted to sleep. No interruptions, no nightmares. Just blissful slumber.


	9. Chapter 9

As I awaken, I slowly open my eyes to see my stylists above my head, blinking their eyes prettily. I scream loudly, jumping out of my skin.

"Sorry darling!" Portia says; looking at me worriedly as if I'd suffered a heart attack.

"It's fine. I'm fine." I reply, though I still feel goose bumps rise up my spine.

"Today is the day of your interview!"

"I know." I say flatly.

"Cheer up a bit! We'll make you look just as glamorous as you did in the chariot!" Flavia says, smiling brightly.

This did make me feel slightly better. If Cinna designs me another amazing outfit, Caesar and I will have plenty to talk about. If not, I will lose a lot of sponsors as my personality isn't exactly, glowing.

The next morning I spend hours with Effie as she tries to make me ready for the interview.

"Stand up straight Philippa!" She snaps, pinching my back.

"I'm Pippa, not Philippa."

"I'm calling you by the name I retrieved from the bowl at the Reaping. Philippa."

I glare at her.

"Gosh! Will I have to collect some books to place on your head? You are swaying awfully."

"Go for it." I reply, not bothering to rise to her pompous behaviour.

For the next hour or so I have to prance around, wobbling in heels and balancing books on my head. Finally I am allowed to leave.

"I guess you will have to do." Effie tuts.

"Bye Effie." I say, practically running out of the room.

I quickly make my way to the dining room. I am late. The only person left sitting is the Career, Griffin. He sits in the middle of the room, stabbing his steak aggressively with his fork. I pick up a plate as quietly as possible, hoping I won't wake Griffin from whatever daydream his mind is wrapped up in. Luckily, I'm just in time for last orders.

I walk to the table opposite and slowly place my plate down. All is going smoothly until my leg whacks hard against my chair, causing a loud rumble to echo through the room. I quickly look down, hoping he didn't hear, though he would have had to be deaf not to. I eat my meal in silence, my eyes trained on my stew.

After a while I glance forward to see Griffin staring at me.

"What you got there Pippa?" He asks.

"Just some stew." I say; my voice loud and clear.

"Tastes good, doesn't it."

"Uh huh." I reply awkwardly.

We both stay silent for a few seconds; I begin to hope the conversation has ended. He then pipes up again.

"You don't talk much, do you?" He asks, rising from his table and placing his plate on the side of the counter.

"Not much to say."

Griffin strides back and sits down next to me. Nervous butterflies ripple up my stomach. He looks at my stew longingly while I struggle to remain eating.

"Do you want some?" I ask.

"If you don't mind," He replies, politely.

I slide my bowl over to him and pass him my spoon. He delicately nibbles on the vegetables, not wanting to seem discourteous. I smile, slightly too visibly as he tilts his head.

"What are you smiling at?" He says lightly, a grin also appearing on his face.

"You." I reply, giggling now.

He blushes. We sit in silence while he finishes my stew, though it isn't an awkward silence, it is a comfortable one. As soon as he has finished, I go to grab the plate to clear up. Griffin pushes my hand away.

"Thank you for the stew, it was delicious." He utters, smoothing his hair.

"It is no problem at all." I say happily.

I say goodbye and briskly walk out of the room, shocked at how I just had a conversation with a Career without insults being thrown around. I know it was short, but it was also sweet. Genuine contentment fills my mind as I go to meet Katniss, ready for my interview mentoring.

"What angle are you going to go for in your interview?" She asks.

I blink hard, raising my eyebrows.

"I don't really have an angle. I'm average at best." I reply flatly.

"Stop thinking like that, you're sweet, a lovely girl." Katniss answers, beaming.

"Really?" No one had ever said this to me before; I've always been invisible or deemed as not worth anyone's time.

"Of course, you need more faith in yourself!"

"So you're going to portray me as sweet?" I ask, unconvinced.

"We need something else," She says, furrowing her brow.

I shrug my shoulders, feeling frustrated.

"Of course! You're brave!"

"I am?" I think of all the times I've broken down and this seems questionable.

"You've told me you let an Avox throw knives at you from your own choice. If that isn't bravery I don't know what is."

We discuss this further for another half an hour or so. I make sure I know what to say in almost any situation, and after Katniss' reassurance, I feel that I am well prepared.

I am taken to my stylists where Cinna awaits; his gentle smile greeting me as I walk through the bold silver doors of the prep room. My head begins to ache as I remember his smile replicates that of my Father's. Then recalling the days when he would take me and Bluebell into the town, surprising us with cakes from the bakers when we had a spare penny. The joy on his face as we gnawed on our cupcakes, always offering him the frosted rose petals on top. He would always pop it in his mouth, then later in the day he would tell us he could feel thousands of roses growing within his stomach. This gives me a lump in my throat, forcing me to breathe deeply for a moment, before being thrown into the stylist's hands.

I am immediately shoved into a chair where Cinna talks me through the image he has prepared for me. A stunning strapless red dress, with black and silver jewels running up the bodice and a long train trailing behind. I try it on and it fits perfectly, accentuating every flattering part of my body. Portia and the prep team then start on my hair and makeup. They draw complicated patterns flowing from the corner of my eyelids, sticking on jewels identical to the ones stitched to my dress. They then begin to work on what's left of my hair.

"Pippa, what happened to your hair?" Octavia asks.

"It got sliced off when I asked an Avox to throw knives at me." I simply reply. Octavia's mouth drops open and then moves as if she is about to speak. "Don't ask."

They start to fiddle with my hair, adding extensions to the thinned side of my scalp, making it look a lot more dense and long. They compliment my long thick ringlets; all agreeing they make my face structure look a lot sharper. I nod and thank them although I have no idea what they're saying.

After a while they agree on how to style it. They wrap long strands of my hair into a complex bun nearly on top of my head, adding gems and glitter in vast amounts.

"Can you please make sure you have room for my clip?" I ask. "It's my district token from my Mother."

"Of course my darling." Portia says, clutching her chest as if my words had touched her heart.

They move my hair into a side fringe, curling the ends. They then take my clip carefully and carefully place it beside my ear. This makes the '12' obvious to see.

I am quickly taken to the mirror, to be shown my finished look.

"Oh!" Cinna shouts. "We almost forgot the final touch!"

I am sat back down once more, while Cinna roots through his large makeup bag. He digs out two small oval things that I can't manage to decipher. He holds them to the window, turning the angle of them once or twice.

"Right, now this won't hurt as long as you keep still, these are called contact lenses. They are to cover your eyes."

I look at him as if he is mad. How am I supposed to see? Soon enough though, I understand.

He gently places the lenses onto my eye, making them water.

"I think we're finally done!" He says.

"So what's the perk? Does my dress explode or something?" I ask, laughing.

"No, just look in the mirror." He replies, winking at me.

They unveil the mirror, so I can see myself fully. The dress is even more striking than last time, fitting me perfectly. My hair is perfectly symmetrical, the clip giving it extra character. Though it's my eyes that are the most beautiful. Instead of the dull brown I am often greeted with when I look at my reflection, they are replaced with glittering colours that change with every angle. I turn my head left and they are a dazzling lilac, I turn my head right and they are as blue as the sea. They go through the whole spectrum and I can't stop rotating my head, even when I start to feel dizzy.

"They're beautiful!" I say to Cinna, hugging him close.

"I knew you'd love them." He replies. "See, I know you don't need any extra perks because you look incredible without having to have a trick up your sleeve. The audience will be blown away Pippa."

I kiss every member of my prep team on the cheek, so grateful for everything they have done.

"Okay, I think I'm ready for a show." I say, confidently.


	10. Chapter 10

We walk down to the interview hall where I meet Caspar, both of us nervous.

"You look amazing, again." Caspar says sweetly.

"Thank you, so do you."

This is true; he is wearing a suit with a red tie studded with jewel and I examine his eyes carefully but I find no contacts.

"Wow your eyes!" He shouts, finally noticing.

I giggle. I then talk to Cinna in private.

"Why haven't you given Caspar contacts?" I ask.

"Do you really think anyone will care after watching you? Honestly?" He whispers.

I think this through carefully. Soon enough, I understand.

"Oh! Do you mean that because I go on before him, wearing the same contacts, that they won't be as amazed the second time?" I reply.

"No, that's not it Pippa." He says before walking away.

I stand for a while confused at his meaning, until I decide to put it to the back of my mind and worry more about the interviews that are starting in ten minutes.

We walk into a room full of tributes doing their final preparations for the interviews. Some chew on their nails timidly; some sit on the seats, shoulders back confidently. Caspar and I stand in the midst of it all, not really knowing what to do or where to go before Austin and Gracia come bounding up to us.

"I'm so nervous are you nervous?" Gracia asks, quickly mumbling her words.

"Yes!" Caspar says, showing us his trembling hands.

"It'll be over before you know it!" Says Austin.

This is probably true, the interviews only last three minutes before a buzzer rings, indicating that the next tribute should be brought to the stage.

The wait lasted years, although we were able to distract ourselves by watching the other tributes being interviewed on a small screen. District 1 both used the same angle, terrifying. Even Caesar Flickerman was taken aback, who is normally fine with anything. The blonde Career, Lexus, plays the sweet angle; though you can see the malice deep within her green eyes. Griffin laughs with Caesar, the crowd roaring at his sharp, witty jokes.

Azure is on next; wearing a golden ball gown and teetering neatly onto the stage. Caesar plays up to her asking the audience if they think she looks as flawless as he thinks. The crowd applaud, some even wolf whistling. Gracia is shy, giggling cutely when Caesar jokes around.

Five and Six are cheeky, reassuring Caesar that they won't be out first.

Panther girl then slips onto the stage, wearing a long black dress, her eye makeup accentuating her catlike qualities. She is portrayed as sly and sneaky, giving nothing away. As soon as she walks off Storm walks on confidently and the crowd ripple applause, he is obviously a favourite.

Eilish is then hurried onto stage, twirling into Caesars arms comically. She is serious after that, as Caesar asks about her family it's as if she has totally transformed from her usual bubbly self, to someone lost. As she tells stories of her life at home, I hear sniffles from the audience. Austin also does well, giving intelligent remarks as the crowd listens intently.

Nine, Ten and then Eleven pass until my interview is thirty seconds away. I take deep breaths talking through things in my head. As soon as the buzzer sounds I pick up the back of my dress, making a sweet smile appear on my cheeks.

Caesar comes to greet me, and slowly shakes my quaking hands. He gives me a reassuring nod before we sit down and gets straight on with the interview.

"May I say, I have never seen anyone's eyes look so enchanting." He says with a flourish. "Can we get the camera on these?"

The film crew dash over; zooming in on my eyes as I rotate my head. The audience give a gasp of delight.

"Cinna you've done it again." Caesar says, giving him a thumbs up. Cinna winks back.

"He really does know how to make a girl feel beautiful." I say, honestly.

"Anyway, Pippa; what did you feel like when you were picked at the reaping?"

My mind went straight back to reality like a punch in the face. Luckily Katniss had prepared me for this. Make it memorable.

"It was like, the worst things you could ever imagine all rolled into one moment. Like I couldn't breathe, as if I was being suffocated." I had Caesar and the crowd hanging on my words. "The only thing that helped me catch my breath was the sound of my sister Bluebell, crying."

"Oh yes I heard that, truly heart-breaking." Caesar says softly. "You must love your family." He continues, prompting another answer.

"Of course, more than anything, not that I have anything else." I give out a nervous laugh.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't have 'friends'." I answer, feeling uncomfortable bring it up.

"What about Caspar?" Caesar asks.

I struggle to talk, my eyes flicking right and left. I hate him, but I can't say that. Not even _he_ deserves it. Caesar takes the hint and quickly moves on to talk about the Capitol. We have a quick joke, but soon enough the buzzer sounds and I leave the stage as gracefully as possible, a loud applause behind me.

I sit down still shaking as Austin walks over to me and pats me on the shoulder.

"You did a good job!" He says, reassuringly.

I nod at him thankfully and begin watching Caspar's interview. He knows all the right things to say to make the crowd laugh, and at times become silent from emotion, especially when his family is brought up.

"So how are your family at home?" Caesar asks.

"Well it's just me and my parents, so nothing much happens."

"No brothers or sisters?"

"I used to have a brother, but he died three years ago." He says; his voice wobbling.

Three years ago, I think. Around the time he started bullying me. Unable to stop myself, I gasp. That was why he did it; he was grieving – unable to control his emotions, not because of anything I had done to him. I always wondered why it was so sudden. A huge pang of guilt rises through me.

"I'm so sorry." Caesar says, solemnly.

"It's fine, but I'd like to say something else. She needs to hear it." Caspar replies, clearing his throat.

"Who does?"

"Pippa." He looks directly into the camera. "That's the only reason I've ever hurt you Pippa and I'm sorry, for all these years that we've hated each other for no good reason."

I can feel the rest of the tributes staring at me, but I keep my eyes on the screen.

"That's such a good thing to do Caspar." Caesar says clapping his hands, the audience joining in.

"I had to get that off my chest."

For the final minute they chat, getting the spectators directly involved, making them love him. The buzzer rings for a final time and he walks of stage. The screen showing the Capitol seal.

I run to the steps leading off the stage and as soon as Caspar is in sight I wrap my hands tightly round his neck.

"I'm so sorry." I say.

"No I had no reason to turn everyone against you." He replies, returning the embrace.

"If I had known about your brother, everything would have been different. I would have been able to forgive you." I choke.

He holds my shoulders and looks deep into my eyes.

"Will you forgive me now?"

"Of course." I laugh.

We walk down the steps to find Austin, Eilish, Storm and Gracia looking at us grinning. Caspar and I chuckle, say goodbye and begin walking to our rooms. As soon as I bound through the door I stand completely still, going through the events of the past hour in my head.

I was interviewed, it went well. Caspar told Caesar his brother died. He apologised for making my life hell. I forgave him.

It all sounded simple when I thought of it factually but everything was such a mess, and the arena was less than twenty four hours away. I climb into bed and check the time. Ten o'clock. I decide to go to sleep as tomorrow I will be an emotional wreck even if I'm fully rested.

I can't sleep. I toss and turn for hours until I get so frustrated that I can't bear to stay in bed anymore.

I stand up and throw on a dressing gown. I walk around the room, pondering how to spend my time. I open the door and check no one is outside before I walk down the hall. Corridor after corridor passes before I find a sign directing me to the roof. Why not?

I walk up the steep stairs and shove the door open. An immediate chill creeps onto my skin, making me tighten the tie on my gown. I stare over the balcony, mesmerised by the view of the Capitol. A city full of lights, people wandering as far as the eye can see. I stand gazing at scene in front of me until I feel a hand touch my shoulder. I scream, striking the figure.

I turn around to see Griffin, wincing.

"We meet again." He says cheekily.

"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry, is your stomach okay?" I say panicking; I don't want to be first on the Careers' list.

"Pippa it's fine." He laughs.

I give a sigh of relief and laugh with him anxiously.

"Why are you up here?" I ask.

"I could ask you the same question. I've come up here every night, it helps me think."

"About what?"

"Everything really." I see a look in his eyes that I have never noticed before, a look of longing and loneliness.

I sit on the cold wall, Griffin joining me, when I begin to tremble once again.

"Come on Pip, toughen up. You'll need to be tougher than this in the arena," he says lightly. I close my eyes and gulp, suddenly feeling sick. "I won't mention it again." He continues, noticing my change in demeanour.

"Thanks." I reply.

For a few minutes we sit in silence before the cold begins to take over my body, I can feel my lips beginning to turn blue.

Without warning I feel Griffin's warm hands pull my body close to his, my cheek resting on his chest. I can feel the warmth radiating from his skin so I don't object. The situation feels so odd as we talk for ages, his gentle fingers stroking my hair, my knees tucked up close to him. We tell each other about our homes, our family, and our time at the Capitol.

He makes me feel safe. I begin to drift off in Griffins arms, his head resting on mine. My last thought before I plunge deep into slumber. _This is where the Games really begin._


	11. Chapter 11

Part 3: The Hunger Games

I wake up with a start to feel my head on the cold, hard stone. I raise my heavy head looking for Griffin. He stands in the corner of the balcony, walking back and forth in rhythmic steps, his eyes glazed over. I cough subtly to indicate that I am awake. He looks up and smiles, then wanders over to me.

"Good sleep?" He asks.

"How long have you been up? What time is it?" I say, ignoring him.

"Not long, why does it matter?" He replies casually.

"Today we go into the arena Griffin; we can't just act like children. I'm probably going to die in the next few hours!"

"I won't let you." He replies immediately.

"This isn't a game Griffin, do you not understand?" I shout.

"For the Capitol it is." He begins to laugh. "To them it's entertainment, just amusement for them."

His words start to sink in, making me feel hollow. Without warning my hands begin clawing at my head, ripping long locks of hair out while my voice gets louder by the second. Griffin runs to me, pulling my hands away and putting his finger to my lips, making me quieten down. I don't know what is happening to me as I feel unable to take in air, my body jerking. He rocks me back and forth until I can manage to breathe regularly, his soft voice calming me.

"It's okay you just had a panic attack. It's okay Pippa." He says gently.

"Why are you being so nice to me? You're acting as if," I can't finish my sentence.

"I don't know anymore, this is all a huge mess. I don't even understand why I volunteered." He says; his head in his hands.

"What do you mean? You're a Career, it's what you do."

"It's my family, they only seem to care about making them proud, not the fact that I will probably die."

"You have a better chance than I do, look at me." I reply, gesturing at my weak body in comparison to his strong physique.

"Not if I can help it." He replies. He then holds my hands tightly. "I'll see you in the arena."

Then he leaves me, all on my own, confused and distressed. I go down to breakfast as when I walk down the hall I see a clock and realise it is 7am. The dining room is silent as people nervously chew on whatever food they can stomach. Only a few hours left until the unthinkable begins. Caspar walks up to me and whispers something in my ear.

"I knocked on your door last night and this morning, why didn't you answer?"

"I was asleep." I reply, struggling to sound calm.

"Yeah right." He says, glaring at me.

I decide not to elaborate on my answer as my lies would start to spiral. Not that it really matters what Caspar thinks anymore.

After breakfast I am taken to see my mentors and escort for the final time. We walk into a room to see Katniss, Peeta and Effie sitting on the edge of their seats. They spring into life as soon as they see Caspar and me, walking over to console us. Katniss is the first to speak to me after a long silence, while Peeta comforts Caspar.

"Hey Pippa." She says, letting out the slightest smile.

"Hi." I reply, not in the mood for small talk.

"Remember what I said okay. Sprint to the Cornucopia as fast as you can and don't look back until you've reached it." She says, her eyes darting, her voice speeding up. "Grab anything you can, anything at all and run. Stay alert. Do whatever you can to stay alive."

I nod, taking it all in, suddenly feeling petrified. Effie then teeters over; I swallow, promising myself that I won't argue as this is the last time I will ever see Effie.

"My darling," Effie says, acting as if we are best friends. "I am sure you will be able to do… something."

"Thanks." I reply flatly. "That really helps me out."

Effie gives me a false smile. "If you live, I look forward to meeting you again Pippa."

"You too Effie." I say, a lot more sincerely.

Peeta is last to speak to me. I stare right into his gentle blue eyes and suddenly, everything is too much. I can feel my eyes water and no matter how many times I blink they begin to pour without warning. Peeta quickly comes to my aid, wrapping his arms around me and gently patting my back.

"I'm s-sorry." I manage to say.

"What are you sorry for?"

"Not being brave, I can never stop myself; they're going to slaughter me in there."

"Pippa, I've seen your abilities, if we didn't think you had a chance, no one would have bothered trying to improve your skills, but we see a glimmer, no; a huge beam of hope inside of you. You can do this."

"Do you really think so?" I ask, the tears beginning to slow down.

"Of course." He says in his calming tone.

Effie checks the time and quickly nudges us towards the huge hall containing the hovercraft we will be travelling to the arena in. We all say our last goodbyes and exchange hugs before it is time. I give Caspar a quick smile before the rope is dropped that begins jerk me into the hovercraft. I feel the force field surrounding the rope, making sure I cannot fall.

As soon as I am free I walk into the vast space inside, my mouth wide open. I see the seats in front of me and wonder whether to sit down before a lady quickly jumps in front of me.

"You are Philippa from District 12?" She asks, peering at a notebook.

"Yes."

"Okay, now I have got two trackers here, and I am going to insert them into each of your arms okay? You will feel a slight pinch."

As she puts the trackers into my arms, one deep into my skin and one slightly closer to the surface, I begin to wonder why she is placing two. I then remember that last year one of the boy's trackers stopped receiving signal and the Gamemakers had to search for him. I also remember a volcanic eruption just killing him soon after. Maybe he disabled it in some way? Now was not the time to think about that.

I am then shown to my seat for the short ride to the arena. I sit down and metal bar folds in front of my torso, I grip my hands around it.

As the last tributes are seated I look around to see blackened windows, these are so that we can't see the arena to give any of us an advantage. Finally the doors are closed and we take off, awaiting twenty three of our deaths. I look around and smile at Austin and Eilish who are a couple of seats down from me. Nobody says a word the whole journey and you can feel the tension rising inside the hovercraft. I see people giving me odd looks, surely because my face is still red and swollen from weeping earlier. Griffin sits opposite me and I can feel his gaze the whole journey from the corner of my eye but refuse the urge to look at him.

Soon we land and every tribute is taken into their Launch Rooms to get ready for the arena. I walk in slowly to see my outfit hanging neatly on the opposite side of the room. Slowly I tread towards it, trying to figure out the material and fit. It is a dark grey body suit, perhaps to absorb sunlight, which suggests it may be cold. I remove my comfortable clothes and climb into the body suit. It grips me tightly and covers my full arms and legs. The torso is covered in a light material that isn't very thick, whereas my legs are covered in a dense waterproof material. On the side of my arm has the number '12' printed on, similar to the stitching on my clip.

I hear a clatter in the hallway and quickly turn around to see Cinna walking in. He is the last person I will see. We make small talk and he tries to tempt me with breakfast. I only manage to eat a small amount, a few bites of bread, as I don't want it to make a re-appearance later. I go to brush my teeth in the brand new complex; I'll be the only person to ever use it. There will be a new arena next year, in a completely new area. Seems like a waste if you ask me.

Cinna hands me the boots I will be wearing. Cut a bit above my ankles; a soft yet strong material with rubber soles that flex when I point my toes.

"Now, do you have a district token, nothing was given to me." He says. I bend my head, revealing my clip and point to it. "Ah I see. You're lucky you didn't get that confiscated.

"I didn't think about it. I've had other things on my mind." I reply. Cinna nods solemnly. "Did anyone else get anything confiscated?" I ask.

"The boy from District Two," Cinna says vaguely. "He had a ring, more like a knuckle duster if you ask me." I shake my head. Griffin. "Anyway, is everything comf0rtable? Why don't you walk around to see if it's all a good fit."

I walk around lightly and jump up and down a couple of times. "Mhm."

I stand still for a while, not knowing what to say. I walk over to the food table and pour myself a small glass of water and sip it delicately. Cinna gently guides me to a chair and I sit down. He puts his arm around my shoulder and I move closer, a scared little girl. In barely any time later I hear the announcement that it is time to prepare to launch. I stand up but my feet give way, Cinna luckily catches me.

I slowly walk over and shakily stand on the metal plate.

"Help me Cinna." I squeak.

"Remember what Katniss said. Get a pack and clear out, you can do this Pippa. Don't count yourself out already!" He says, he clutches my hand and I squeeze his in return.

The glass cylinder lowers around me and I panic, banging on the glass as the metal plate rises up. Darkness, I am covered in darkness. This is a nightmare. Suddenly I feel a cool breeze on my face and I open my eyes. They focus and I begin to see my surroundings. I then hear the familiar voice of Claudius Templesmith, The Hunger Games official announcer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the seventy-seventh Hunger Games begin!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you so much for the reviews everyone! They're all really lovely to read and really helpful c:. This chapter is a bit rushed i'm sorry but i'm working on it :-). If you could tell me what you think that would be awesome, thank you! c:**

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The sixty seconds initiate. We have this amount of time to see the arena and work out our tactics. Before even viewing the arena I look to my right to see Eilish standing there, ready to flee. I then turn to my left to see Panther Girl, poised to attack. I look towards the Cornucopia seeing a mountain of weapons near the horn, but surrounding it is a river, perfectly circling it. I judge the depth; it must only be couple of feet. I start to doubt my instructions. What if I can't run fast enough? Won't the Careers get to me before I even place a finger on a weapon? Can I really put my family through seeing me get slaughtered in the first few minutes, maybe seconds of the Bloodbath?

"Forty five, forty four." His voice booms.

I set my eyes on the packs scattered further away from the Cornucopia. I see a large one directly in my eye line. It's medium sized, I will be able to carry it without much struggle. It is mine.

"Twenty seconds."

I quickly turn around to see a forest with a sweet scent leaking from it, tall trees with thick trunks as far as the eye can see. On the other side of the Cornucopia I see almost a replica of the forest, but on closer look I see that the leaves attached to the trees are red. _Danger._ The forest behind me is probably only about two hundred metres away, with flat ground leading to it. Dust rises from the wind, making the Cornucopia slightly out of focus. I will take the pack, turn around and sprint. I stroke my clip quickly, grip my eyes shut for a couple of seconds then and position my feet, ready to run. I cannot take my foot off the metal plate until the gong, or else landmines will blow my legs off.

"Five, four, three, two, one."

My legs spring into action, my feet jolting on impact with the ground. I swing my arms while I run, gaining momentum quickly. I am correct about the river, that only reaches my knees and I wade through while seeing people diving unnecessarily. Despite my fast pace I am not the first to the Cornucopia, I see the Careers picking weapons; slowly browsing through their choices. A few feet away from me I see Caspar, climbing the mountain of packs for a bow, his feet slipping. _He's not my problem. _I think, before skidding to my pack. I lunge towards it and sling it over my shoulder. I see a small boy, either from five or six, boldly sprinting towards me. I place the second strap on my other shoulder and turn to run. The boy has his arms out menacingly, looking strong for someone of his size and attempts to tackle me to the floor. I stumble backwards while he attacks me, scratching at my arms. I push him back and kick him hard, forcing him to fall to the ground. I stare for a second, before seeing Panther girl spear his stomach.

"Isis, I've got more weapons!" Shouts Azure's district partner.

Panther girl turns around. "Let me finish my kill." She says and turns back round to me, an evil gleam in her eye.

I give myself no time to think and quickly rotate my feet and sprint towards the woods, the blood beating in my forehead. I feel her gaining on me as my pace starts to slow down, my breathing increasing rapidly. I stop to see her raising her arm, ready to strike down with her knife. I quickly move out of its path using the only skill I know, evasion. I fling my arm to hit her but she ducks and her knife slits my leg.

I yelp with pain as she laughs. I hear another cry of pain from the Cornucopia and Isis drops her knife, dashing to her ally's aid.

I try to stand up but my leg is in too much pain. The dust from the ground weakens my eye sight until I can only see figures. This is dangerous. I begin to edge towards the forest, crawling as fast as I can. I suddenly freeze as I hear Griffin's voice.

"Don't worry, I've got her."

I knew it. He's been against me all along.

I frantically crawl, going as rapidly as I can in the direction I'm hoping leads me to the woods, after a few more metres I feel my head going dizzy, my eyes clouding over. _This is the end. _I think to myself as I hear Griffin grow closer. The impact of his blade surely about to hit me. I curl up in a defensive ball ready for the death blow, but instead I feel myself being lifted from the ground. I open my eyes to see Griffin carrying me, keeping a lookout for the other Careers.

"What are you doing?! Get off me!" I shout, trying to free myself from his grip.

He doesn't reply. In a matter of seconds we are in the forest though he keeps on running with me in his arms. After at least half an hour he slows and gently rests me on the soft foliage. A bandage materializes from his pocket and he slowly wraps it around my wound, making me wince. I can hear the footsteps of other tributes not too far away.

"Griffin get out! Leave me!" I hiss.

"No!"

He takes out a knife and I recoil, terrified. I then realise he is looking for something. This makes my brain even slower than it already has been as I try to process the events that have just happened. Why is he doing this for me? Griffin then seems to spot what he has been looking for. He raises his knife and hacks a huge piece from the trunk of the tree opposite me, scooping out the contents of it with his hands. I want to help him even though I don't have a clue what he is doing, but my leg still feels too tender.

I decide to be the unofficial guard, warning Griffin every time I hear a sudden movement or see a mistrustful shadow. Soon enough the whole inner contents of the tree has been removed and he is padding the bottom with leaves, grass and soft bark. I finally realise what he is doing. He gently picks me up and places me on top of the soft carpet of shrubs.

"Don't leave me." I cough.

He hesitates, looking around. "Listen I have to, the others think I've killed you. I need you to stay here for the night, don't make a noise and don't leave until the morning when you're strong enough okay?"

I nod. He puts my pack next to me and supplies me with bread, a small bottle of water, bandages and a knife – just in case. He then lifts the giant piece of bark and places it carefully back, enclosing me in. I hear footsteps and then he is gone. The only way I can see the rest of the arena is by the small eye whole he carved for me.

He saved me.

I slowly unravel my bandage and move my leg towards the light to evaluate my injury. The cloth is not covered in too much blood which makes me hope it may only be a minor wound. I look to see a small indent that has already scarred over as it is rough to touch. I was lucky that Isis' ally was hurt or else I would be dying; possibly already dead.

As the sun begins to set I remember to look through the contents of my pack to find another water bottle. A net compacted into a small ball. A small flask of iodine. Matches. A thick sleeping bag. Dried beef strips. A coil of rope. And some dried fruit. Not bad at all. I could survive for a couple of days from what I've got just in this tree, though I'm not sure this will be popular with the Capitol audience. And I'm just here for a show after all.

Night falls and I flinch when I hear the cannons sound. Each cannon represents one dead Tribute. I count them carefully in my head from start to finish. Ten. The Capitol anthem then begins to play. I push my eye right up to the crack in the bark to see the tributes that have died in the Bloodbath be projected into the sky for everyone to see. They show the tribute's face and District before moving on to the next, not even a name will be shown. We are just numbers to them.

The first face that comes up is that of Azure's district partner from Three, Isis' ally. This means that Griffin is safe. The next faces to appear are all four tributes from Districts Five and Six, the boy killed right in front of me included. All Careers survived, the thought of them sends a chill down my spine. Seven and Eight are clear, meaning Austin, Eilish and Storm are all okay. Both tributes from Nine and Ten have been killed and one from Eleven. I hold my breath, wondering if Caspar managed to survive the Bloodbath and retrieve his bow. The Capitol seal appears again and then disappears from the sky. I relax, lucky that no one I care about has been killed in the initial battles.

Before settling down to sleep I stab four small holes in the bark, two at the top and two at the bottom. I then cut my rope in half and weave it between the holes, fastening it to the other side of the trunk. This should keep the trunk from collapsing in the wind. Now I just need to follow Griffin's instructions and stay here until the morning.

I quietly take out my sleeping back, making sure not to make any unnecessary rustling and clamber in. I begin to feel closed in as I only have room to sleep with my knees against my head, but it will have to do.

I snooze every few hours, continually awoken by animals passing and trees rustling. I look out of the small opening to witness a sunrise just as beautiful as the ones at home, the pink sky slowly getting lighter and lighter, and the promise of a new day. Though it's different here because I don't know if I'll even last the day.

The air has become thick overnight and I begin to find it demanding to even breathe, I need to get out of here soon. For a while I sit and listen to the hum of the woods, the birds dashing amongst the trees.

I take out my knife and begin to cut the rope fastening the bark. I have only just finished severing the first bit of rope when I hear voices close by. I hold my breath, making sure I don't make a sound.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry this chapter is so fast :-(, i've been working on it for days and i can't think of anything to fill the gaps. Sorry if you're dissapointed. Please review though, i love reading them and they help a lot! Thank you :-)**

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"Where do we go now then?" I hear a familiar voice say.

"I think we should find Caspar and Pippa, make sure they're okay." Replies another, a boy this time.

Then it finally clicks, Eilish and Austin.

I rapidly sever the other rope and kick out the bark with brutal force. I climb out slowly to see Austin sprint towards me and tackle me to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" I yell.

"Pippa?" He answers, only just realising it is me.

"Yes! Now get off me, I'm injured!" I whine.

"Sorry, let me help you get up." He says, kindly. "What's happened to your leg?"

I look down to the slash on my leg to see it is a lot deeper than I had first thought in the darkness of the tree.

"Isis happened." I reply.

"You want to get some ointment on that," peeps Gracia, a few metres in front of me.

"Well it would help if I actually got a parachute!" I hiss.

Gracia backs down while Austin struggles to help me up. My leg aches to walk on so Austin snaps a large branch from the tree next to us that acts well as a cane.

"How did you get in that tree?" Eilish asks.

"I crawled here from the Cornucopia and hacked it with a knife." I reply. I know it isn't believable, but this is not the time to admit a Career had helped me.

They don't question my answer anyway as no one has the courage to disagree. Once I have packed up my supplies we start to trek deeper into the forest.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"As far away from the Careers as possible. Also, we need to get water. Storm said he'd meet us at the lake." Gracia replies.

I see that none of them have any supplies, this is conformation of what I first thought as soon as the Games began. Thinking about it, this was only yesterday, yet it feels as though I've already been here for years. Hopefully time will pass quicker with more company.

As we walk my leg begins to feel worse and worse with every stride, making me stumble every couple of minutes. Eventually my leg gives way and I fall to the floor, unable to get back up. Luckily Austin and Gracia hold my arms against their shoulders and help me limp for a few more minutes, with Eilish leading the way. They begin to tire, feet dragging, breathing increasing. I know I'm not heavy, but for two people who haven't eaten for a day it must be gruelling.

"We can't do this for much longer Pippa." Austin says regretfully. "At this rate the Careers will have caught us up by noon."

"Leave me then." I reply knowing I'm being a burden, scuppering their chances of survival.

A moment later I hear an electronic sound flutter from the sky. I see the rest of the group looking around before Eilish points.

"Parachute!"

I turn my head to see a parachute perched on the branch of a tree, too high for my reach.

"Don't worry I'll get it." Says Gracia, before gracefully scaling the tree. She grabs the parachute and jumps down landing on her feet. "Pippa this is for you."

She passes me the parachute with the number '12' printed in bold letters. It's a small rectangular metal case with a lid that is clipped on. After a struggle to pick at the lid, I eventually open it up to see a tube of ointment about the length of my hand. This could last for days. I twist the top of the tube and squeeze a small amount of the ointment onto my hand, rubbing it on my fingertips. I gentle massage the gel onto my wound to find instant relief. I close my eyes to savour the minute of complete reprieve and slowly stand up, my leg already feeling much better.

"Do you think you'll be able to walk now?" Austin asks.

"I'll make sure of it."

After the first few paces the pressure on my wound begins to subside, our pace rising steadily. We walk at a fast, stable stride as I share my dried beef and water amongst my allies before we find the river. We mostly stay silent as the hours pass, trekking up a never ending hill, beginning to feel exhausted.

"I think we should take a break." Eilish says, gasping for air.

"I agree." Gracia replies.

I stay quiet as I see the slope of the hill.

"I just need to check something." I say.

I stagger up, timing each breath so I don't get too drained. I then reach the peak of the hill and stare out to the horizon to see a vast lake, covered in lily pads and long stretches of vines floating from the bottom.

"Everyone I've found the lake!" I cheer.

After their short break they leap to their feet and jog up the hill awaiting the sight of the beautiful pond, their faces beaming. I usher them over to me and as their eyes meet the sight of the lake their reaction is not what I am expecting. Their mouths drop as they run down the slope.

"Where's Storm?!" Gracia says panicking.

The exact moment Gracia speaks the cannon sounds, as if timed by the Gamemakers.

"Gracia calm down, we don't know it's him. It could be anyone, there are fourteen tributes left!" Austin says calmly.

"Thirteen now." Gracia replies blinking rapidly, willing herself not to cry. Her face suddenly drains of colour. "What if the Careers got him?"

I look over to Austin who gives me a nervous smile, his eyes flickering. The same question must being going through his mind. We begin to make camp at the top of the hill, Gracia weaving grass and soft wood to make a roof, the rest of us making a sturdy hut from thick branches and rope. After a couple of hours we are finished and the agonising wait to see what will arise in the sky tonight begins.

"Does anyone know how to hunt? We're going to need more food, these beef strips aren't going to last much longer." I say as there are next to none left in the packet.

"I do!" Gracia pipes up.

"Fantastic, let's go." I say, it's the first piece of good news I've heard today. "We'll be back before sunset."

Gracia and I trek through the forest, treading carefully to ensure we don't scare off any game. After a while we tread to a small patch of woods filled with rabbit holes. Jackpot. Gracia quickly fashions a complex snare with her delicate fingers.

"When did you learn that?" I asked, shocked.

"It's quite simple, it's just tying up some twigs, and all I have to do is make a decent enough loop." She replies, taking grass and fashioning it into a variety of knots.

"That's amazing."

"There wasn't much else to do at home." She says solemnly as we begin to walk further.

"Why?" I ask, puzzled. Surely in District Four she could do anything I can think of, with their beaches.

"I grew up in an orphanage; they didn't pay much attention to me there." She utters, tying the knots as she speaks.

I decide to ask a question I wouldn't dare to say normally, but in the consequences, I don't find it matters too much.

"What happened to your parents?" I ask softly.

"Drowned." She replies bluntly. I contemplate whether to say anymore, but I don't have to as she clears her throat, obviously struggling to answer. "They killed themselves."

I gasped, I've never heard of anyone in my district ending their own lives unless for a vital cause. In District 12 you savour every moment of your life, whether you live to eighty or thirty, suicide is thought of as cowardly. But I wasn't going to judge before Gracia had given me their reasons.

"My mother got depression when I was born; she thought I was a curse, that I had ruined their lives. My father sent her to doctors, even paid all of their life savings to get a psychiatrist to come from the Capitol, but no one could help her." Gracia gulps. "So she asked my Father if he would come to the sea to die together, as it was where they first met. He loved her so much; he couldn't bear to see her like that, trapped for the rest of her life. So they went to the sea, and took their last breaths together."

I weight fell down on my heart, a huge lump in my throat to hear such a heart-breaking story. I can almost hear the Capitol audience's sobs in my ears.

"I'm so sorry." I say, as I know nothing I can say will be able to console her. I put my arms round her and hug her tight as she nestles into my shoulder, the way I did to my Father on our last goodbye. Gracia has lost all of her family, and she might even die herself. We stand in silence for a while, savouring the peace that emanates from the calm buzz of the woods; so different in comparison to the blood curdling screams from the Cornucopia.

We later trek back to see a rabbit caught in our snare, a small one but it could probably fill our stomachs to some extent. Gracia opens the snare and picks up the rabbit by its soft ears and flings it over her back, carrying it like a sack. We slowly walk through the woods back to camp, keeping alert at all times. Our feet tread carefully, making sure not to make any avoidable clatters.

I look through the trees, observing possible meals when I see a tall figure in the distance, slowly edging closer. I freeze.

"Pippa what is it?" Gracia says worriedly.

"Gracia, run. Now." I say out of the corner of my mouth.

"W-what? Why?"

"Career."


	14. Chapter 14

**I just hit 1000 views, *personal achievement* thank you so much everyone who has read this it means so much to me. c: Thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites too! Sorry this chapter is rubbish, it goes too fast i know :-(, please review anyway, i love reading them and they help me out so much. Thanks guys!**

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I see the silhouette striding confidently towards us, not bothering to even stay vigilant. Understandably a Career.

Gracia picks up her feet and sprints to camp, dodging trees and rocks, soaring through the forest. I am not so hasty. I hear the footsteps behind me building; gathering momentum. The predator takes an intake of breath and leaps, gripping their hands around my neck.

"Pippa!" Gracia shouts, a few hundred metres in front.

"Go!" I scream and I see her dash back.

My body goes limp before I even consciously realise what has happened. It must be only a second that's passed, but I can already feel my throat closing before my body is thrown to the floor. I gasp for breath, choking. I roll over onto my back to see only a few paces ahead of me; Griffin, sorrow filling his eyes, now green in the sunlight.

"I didn't know!" He shouted; his voice filled with fury, the veins rising on his temple. How could he not tell it was me? How many other tributes have long curly brown hair with a clip that easily reads the number '12'. Did he really not know? Or did he just hope I wouldn't realise it was him?

I hurry to my feet and race back to camp, not looking back. My neck is already beginning to bruise. I try to keep a low profile but with my throat so swollen coughs end up occurring every minute, my throat burning.

Eventually I stagger to our site, to find Gracia sobbing high up in a tree, Austin and Eilish looking distraught also. I pin back the branches and their eyes instinctively follow. All at once a look of joy crosses their faces and Gracia jumps from the tree and squeezes me protectively.

"Gracia told us you were dead." Eilish said, confused.

"I almost was."

"But Pippa, he had his hands round your neck. How did you free yourself?" Gracia asked.

Think, think. How could I have got free, what could I have done?

"My knife, I, uh, slashed him didn't I." I say, unconvincingly.

"Oh right," Gracia says warily. "I'm just so glad you're here, I couldn't bear to lose both of you in one day."

"We don't know that Storm is dead, it could be anyone! He's probably set up camp somewhere himself, just for yesterday and tonight. Don't worry about it." I reply, trying to comfort Gracia.

"Well we'll find out in a minute anyway." Austin says, just as the sun is setting.

We skin the rabbit Gracia caught, and, with Eilish's help, manage to cook it without giving away our location. Somehow the fire seems to float to our left for a few hundred metres before diagonally rising. The four of us silently eat our meals; my stomach is churning, awaiting the news of who is dead.

We look to the sky to see the Capitol seal appear, lighting up the sky. Only one face will be up in the sky tonight, let's just hope it's not Storm.

We hold our breaths, waiting for the profile to appear. The person that materialises in the sky is that of the boy from District Four, a Career. We all gasp, but quietly cheer that Storm is still alive. I can't help but think at the back of my mind however, what happens to the Careers now? What happens to Griffin?

I walk to the lake a few minutes away and fill up my water, putting three droplets of iodine in it before strolling back. Nothing makes sense. Why Griffin is trying so hard to protect me. He knows only one person comes out alive and that won't be me, surely it would be easier to kill me quickly, make it less painful for my family to watch. For me to maybe even get to the final five and then have my life taken away from me in a fit of rage for survival by one of the other tributes. That would be a worse fate.

I get back to camp and try to sleep, knowing that my watch is in four hours. It's no use though, so I tell Austin to take a nap and I'll do both shifts.

"Are you sure? I'm fine to keep lookout."

"No it's fine honestly, it's easier for both of us, and I'm not going to sleep any time soon."

I prop myself up against a tree and take guard. Hours pass and my eyes still don't feel heavy enough to sleep, so I don't wake Eilish for her turn. The hum of the forest is soothing, the hoot of the owls and scuttering of the woodland animals, I wish I had had chance to go to the forest back at home, maybe even with Caspar. As the sun starts to rise I appreciate its beauty once more and then awaken my allies.

"Pippa, you were supposed to wake me." Eilish exclaims sleepily.

"I couldn't sleep." I reply, my eyes squinting in the light of the sun.

"I guess we're going to have to find Storm today." Austin interrupts.

"Yep." Eilish replies.

We set off, thinking of the possible places Storm would pick to shelter in. I don't have much input as I didn't even know Storm that well when I met him in the Capitol, due to my own fault, but I guess it has to be different in the arena.

The search lasts for hours as we wander, weapons in hand. We come across a tribute at one point and face off, unsure whether to attack. The girl from eleven.

She recoils as soon as she sees us, only a rope in her hand. I pity her, she can't kill anyone with that, and her frame is small, her golden brown skin clinging to her bones. I pull out a strip of beef and toss it to her. She looks at me uncomprehendingly, but shoves it in her mouth with great emphasis. Smiling at me, she runs away.

My allies look at me, bewildered; but don't challenge my actions. Maybe they felt the same sympathy for her as I did, who knows? I wasn't going to ask them.

After a while longer we stop and finish off the last of our food, but we can hunt. As soon as we set off again I see a twitch in the bush. I turn my head and watch it, thinking it maybe an animal to kill. I brush the leaves aside to see a human. Dirt covering them all over, a poor attempt at camouflage. I wonder who it is, their hollow cheeks and parched lips, I can't decipher whether they are a boy or girl before I see the broadness of their shoulders. I brush the mud out of their hair with my fingers to see it glowing silver. It is Storm.


	15. Chapter 15

"Storm!" I shout. "Wake up!"

The others run over and circle him. He is still breathing, but it doesn't look as if he has consumed any food or liquid.

"Is he alive?!" Gracia panics.

"Yes, he's going to be fine."

I transfer his motionless body to the dirt and squeeze water from the bottle into his mouth. Austin raises his chin and Storm subconsciously swallows, causing everyone to sigh with relief. He really will be okay. I sit in front of him, anticipating his awaken while the others go to hunt. I keep my knife in hand, ready to fend off any predators while continuing to quench his thirst.

Slowly he opens his deep blue eyes and mine greet them. He smiles.

"Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" I ask warmly.

"Better." He croaks. He looks behind me. "Are the others dead? How long have I been gone?"

"No, no. They're just out hunting for us, we need to get you some food." I say, glancing at his painfully thin stomach. "You've only been out for a day or two. We had a trouble finding you."

He laughs weakly. "Well thank you for saving me Pippa."

"That is no problem." I reply chirpily. "They will only be a few minutes."

"You'll be dead by then."

I twist round quickly to see Isis a few steps away, a small dagger in her hand. She flips it in the air casually, her eyes glued to me. This won't be easy.

_This is a show._ I think, let's make this entertaining for the Capitol. I stand up slowly, facing Isis.

"Not with that I won't." I reply, taking my long blade out and wiping it on my shirt.

She hesitates, her eyes flicking between me and my knife. She then sees Storm behind me and smirks.

"Storm, darling. How are you?" She says slyly.

"Get away you snake." He hisses.

"That's not very nice is it?" She replies, edging closer. She looks back up at me. "Storm and I used to be good friends back in seven, didn't we." She laughs. I look back at Storm, shocked.

"You disgust me Isis."

"Well that's not really my problem now. Is it? I just have to kill you now." She cackles, creeping towards Storm.

I step in front of him protectively and lunge at her with my knife. She grabs my hair and throws me mercilessly to the ground.

"Oh, well this seems familiar." She says. "This time I get to finish off the job though."

Just in time the others come crashing through the trees making Isis rotate her head round. The perfect opportunity. I grab her shoulders before she has time to react and slam her into a tree, the dagger dropping from her hand. She looks at me, her feline eyes petrified, blood trickling down her cheek.

Before I have time to think I plunge my knife deep into her chest, her head lurches forward, coughing blood down her chin. I look down at my hands to see them covered with blood. I throw down my knife, stunned at what I have just done. Isis laughs between coughs as her time dwindles.

"You know what." She gasps after each hoarse breath. "You're the unlucky one here, you're going to get right to the end and then they're all going to kill you." She points to my allies. "They will make sure every last breath of yours is unforgettable."

I stare at her, amazed at how she is using her last words to spite me. She manages to lean forward and presses her mouth to my ear. "Remember that." She whispers.

"No!" I scream.

She cocks her head to one side and smirks, knowing I'm shook. Her face grows whiter before she coughs one last time. Her wicked green eyes glaze over, and the cannon sounds.

I sit, watching at her for an age, before someone taps my shoulder gently. I flinch.

"Pippa, we need to get out of here so the hovercraft can take her." Austin says, carefully picking me up.

I refuse to cooperate so Gracia comes and takes my legs, while Eilish helps Storm to walk. I hear the sound of the hovercraft coming to collect Isis' body and the wind hits the back of our heads. After a while we find a secluded part of the forest and they place me down, Storm next to me, and begin to make a fire.

"Pippa are you okay? She didn't hurt you did she?" Storm asks nervously, though he saw the whole fight unravel with his own eyes.

I fail to reply, my mouth unable to form words, my head wrapped up in thoughts of Isis, getting louder and louder until my arms grip my legs and I burrow my skull between my knees rocking myself to insanity.

I feel a hand stroking my back and soothing words fill my ears until I am able to think straight again. I look up to see everyone staring at me, Storm ripping apart his meat.

"Twelve left." I say shakily.

"Pippa you really should get some sleep, you haven't slept in two days." Gracia says.

As I lay down my sleeping bag and prepare for a night filled with endless showings of Isis' death, the Capitol seal comes up in the sky once more. I struggle to keep it together as I see her face appear, knowing it is because of me that her body will probably be being shipped back to District 7 right now.

I lift the rough material above my head and curl up, ready to sleep. The crackle of the fire calms me down as I begin to drift into slumber.

_They're all going to kill you. Remember that._ Her voice reiterates, again and again. Sometimes adding a slit to my throat, until my whole body is covered in blood, it gushes into my mouth and I'm choking. Still choking when I hear the cannon sound and look up in the sky to see my face being projected to the whole arena. Then the hovercraft comes, ripping bits of my skin and dumping me into a cold wooden box that I can't break out of. I hear a thud and then all is silent, forever. It terrifies me.


	16. Chapter 16

I wake up at sunrise to find myself drenched in sweat. Everyone else sleeps peacefully as the guard of the night had clearly drifted off. The weather is humid, the Gamemakers have already began altering the temperatures, I can expect tonight will be bitter. I decide to take a quick dip in the lake to freshen myself slightly; my body feels covered in filth. I take a short root to the pond and plunge in, the water cold and revitalizing. My fingers unknot my ponytail and I submerge my long ringlets into the lake. I take out my clip, making sure it doesn't rust. It's my only memory of home, a long way from here.

I hum to myself, not any particular song or rhythm, but it calms me. I stop mid tune when I hear the sound of voices coming my way. Quickly growing nearer. Panic overcomes my body as it shakes. I've been captured. The pond is not long but the crevice is deep; I quickly paddle to one side, flattening my body against the moss that covers the dry part of the pond. The voices creep closer and closer as I try to control my breathing. I begin to recognise the conversation, a boy and girl, though I can't quite make out the owners of these two voices until I hear the girl utter a single word. Caspar.

I gasp and quicker than my mind can keep up an arrow soars past my head, piercing the earth just past the pond.

There is no time to waste. I power through the water, separating the small lily pads that lie peacefully on the surface. As soon as I reach the other side I jump up frantically, trying to grip on to the slippery dirt above to pull myself out. It's no use. I turn my head to see Caspar and Azure on the other side of the lake, running towards me. Who knows what they're going to do to me. An idea crosses my head. _Caspar's arrows can't hurt me if I'm in the water._ Without a second thought I dive down to the bottom of the pond. The water is surprisingly clear, meaning I can see everything within it. As my lungs begin to crave oxygen I spot a small alcove underneath the water. It's my best shot.

I flail my arms and legs through the water, as swiftly as I can. As soon as I reach the alcove I plant my feet firmly on the sand and launch myself out of the water, landing in a small cave.

I look around to see the ceiling glistening with the rays of the water, the cave definitely big enough for me to stay in for a while. At least until they think I've drowned.

I shuffle back and accidently hit something as it rustles. I turn around to see a pile of food lying just behind me. This food could last days. I whisper thank you to the Gamemakers as I'm sure they have a camera located in here somewhere.

My hands carefully open a packet full of crackers. I am starving by now as I missed yesterday's meal due to Isis. Just thinking about her makes me feel sick, but I force them down nevertheless.

For a while I just sit and think. This spot could mean safety; I could stay here the whole games and never be found, until the Gamemakers want me to be that is. Or until my eagle comes to save me. Even if that is just a figment of my imagination, I can't help wishing that it may be real.

After about an hour I slip my packets of food into my bodysuit, slotting it by my shin where the waterproof material is. I slowly walk back to camp to find my allies awake and eating some kind of meat.

"Where have you been Pippa?" Austin sighs, obviously bored of me disappearing all of the time.

"I just went down to the lake and managed to get us these," I reply, reaching into my bodysuit and showing them the various sachets of food.

Their mouths drop open in delight.

"How did you find these?!" Storm asks.

I just tap on my nose and wink, not giving away the location. I see there are four packets yet five in our alliance.

"We should share these all fairly." Eilish says.

"No it's fine everyone, I already ate a whole packet when I found them. I'll settle for some plants." I reply, smiling.

"Are you sure?" She asks. "You're the one that managed to get them for us."

"Yep I'm fine." I say, picking up a bright pink flower. "I'll just have some of this."

I squeeze the centre of the flower, and a single drop of sap falls into my mouth. As the nectar spreads across my tongue, it radiates a bitter taste. It'll have to do. I pick off the petals and leaves and crush them between my fingertips

"We should probably relocate our camp." Eilish says.

"Why?" I ask.

"There could be any amount of Tributes gaining on us this second, we need to trek deeper." I can't argue with her logic.

As we wander through the forest I can't help but think that not much action has gone on today. Other than the minor run in with Caspar, who I don't even know whether he was going to kill me or not, nothing much has happened. We just have to hope the Gamemakers won't do anything too severe, or just not to us.

I spot a small animal strolling leisurely through the trees, it hasn't seen us, or surprisingly heard us yet. It's easy prey.

I instruct everyone to stop while I pull out my dagger and clean Isis' blood off of it, making me feel nauseous. Then I just have to wait for the perfect moment. A couple of minutes pass before the poor animal has stopped in its tracks, a sitting target.

I launch my dagger, aiming for the animal's stomach. This is when I will be able to find out how respectable my precision is. I hear a small whimper before the animal keels over onto its side, eyes wide open. My allies cheer behind me, just from this small kill, making me blush.

As we continue to walk I hear the unmistakable sound of a parachute. I look up to see it glide gently, landing on the ground just in front of us. I pick it up to find it is a square metal container with a lid fastened on it tightly. I undo the lid with my sharp fingernails to find two rolls of bread within the case.

I immediately dismiss that it is from District 12, the grain is too light, not nearly heavy enough. I rip off a small piece with my fingers and pop it in my mouth, chewing on it delicately. There is no taste of salt, like the bread they have in District 4 – my Father used to tell me you could always 'taste' the sea within it. There are no herbs in it either, like the signature ingredient District 7 put in all of their bread as a symbol of their district work – lumbers.

"Austin, Eilish, these are for you." I sigh.

They beam as this is their first parachute, though it must not cost much, I'm sure they're happy they're getting some sponsors.

"We can all share it, it's fine." Eilish says; she's too kind.

"Thanks." I reply.

We divide the two rolls into five and eat it slowly, savouring every bite of their delicious bread.

"We've walked far enough; we can have a break on a full stomach." I say.

Storm chuckles behind me. "I agree Pippa."

"We can't afford to stay here!" Austin says slightly irritably. "We need to collect food; we don't even have enough for a day." Eilish nods her head in agreement.

"Fine," I spit. "You two go, the rest of us will stay here."

Austin and Eilish shoot us glares then walk off, just a small knife between them as I refuse to give them my dagger.

"Their fault if they get killed." I say, surprisingly icy.

Storm and Gracia look shocked for a second, but not their heads, seeing as I'm the one with the dagger here. We all shuffle over and lean against a tree trunk, the three of us facing different directions so we can watch the whole forest.

We sit for a while, peacefully, none of us saying a word. I look up to the sky the clear blue sky radiating so much warmth.

Soon enough I am woken from my tranquillity by a blood curdling scream. All three of us stand up defensively, wondering where the owner of this sound may be. The sound is echoed by another voice, further away now. Something is happening, and I'm sure it isn't just a coincidence.

I look up to Gracia and Storm quickly, checking they're okay. In the corner of my eye I see something on Gracia's arm. No. In her arm. A glowing red light shines through her skin, getting darker and darker as seconds pass.

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**Please review if you can, thank you guys c:**


	17. Chapter 17

"Storm, take off your jacket and check your arm." I say, calmly.

He looks at me concerned, but does as I say. As he slowly raises the sleeve of his jacket, I see a replica of the glow in his forearm also. All of a sudden I feel a sharp shooting pain ripple up the same point in my body, the ache so strong I can't help a scream escape from my lips.

In the small amount of time it took Storm and Gracia to witness this, they also both double up in pain. _What is happening? _I further check my forearm to see my skin bubble, crisping black. _Burning._

The second tracker!

Though this was not a tracker, this was a device set up by the Gamemakers when not much has been happening. A weapon. Somehow though it must be escapable, they wouldn't want every tribute to die, they just want a show. They just want drama.

I try to think, but not with much luck as the searing burns amplify by a thousand. Gracia curled up on the floor in agony. _Think Pippa, think! _

Then I remember. When the woman placed the two trackers in our arms she did one deep in the skin, my right arm. And one nearer the surface, my left arm. Right now it was the left that seemed to be almost melting. That's it!

"Storm, Gracia, cut out the tracker!" I scream.

I pull out the dagger from my pocket and without a second thought begin slicing through my skin, the torture almost making me pass out. By now all the skin surrounding the tracker has crisped, my arm charcoaled. I manage to rip it from my arm, tossing it to the floor.

I throw Storm the knife, by this time both of their eyes are streaming, the veins bulging on their foreheads. While he cuts his out I grab my pack and root through to find the bandages.

I block out the noises of pain coming from their mouths and continue searching until I come across a long roll of binding; it will have to be good enough. I wrap it tightly around my arm, applying as much pressure as possible.

Momentarily after Storm has also removed it, up to his shoulder has now gone purple. I use even more for his arm, trying hard not to vomit at the sight of his flesh.

"Come on Gracia! Cut it out!" I screech, picking up the knife ready to do it for her.

"Pippa," she says, a tear spilling down her cheek. "It's too late."

I remove her jacket to see the whole left side of her body a navy blue colour, the part of her arm where the tracker is swollen beyond repair. I cut it out anyway, apologising for the agony she is going through. I chuck the burnt device on the floor so I can get a proper look.

I try hard not to think it but she's right. It's too late. It had burnt up so much of her skin that you could see her bone, I huge mass of her arm had been engraved out.

"Storm, get me a bandage!" I say.

I'm not giving up on her.

I rap the whole length of binding around her wound, and sit back, taking a look at her. She breathes slowly, her eyes dark red, though the tears have stopped.

"Pippa, I don't want to die." She chokes.

I can't give her false hope. I lean in close to her ear while her right hand grips mine tightly.

"It will be wonderful," I whisper. "Your mother and father will be there, everyone you've ever lost; you'll never be lonely again. I'll join you soon as well. I promise you won't be alone."

"I-I ca-n-n't leave y-you he-re though." She struggles.

My eyes fill up until Gracia is a blur. "I have Storm; neither of us will be lonely." I say turning to him, his eyes also filled. "Gracia, let go, everything is going to be okay."

I final tear drops from her eyes and she smiles. I gently brush her eyelids close and stroke her soft cheek.

"Goodbye." I choke.

The cannon sounds, making my body jump. Droplets spilling down my cheeks.

I sit beside her body for a while, still clutching her limp hand until Storm pulls it away and picks me up. I turn back to see her lifeless body in a crumpled mess on the ground.

"I need to make her beautiful again," I say to Storm.

I walk back over to her a comb her strawberry hair with my fingers, while Storm weaves a small headband out of flowers for her. I turn her onto her back, straightening her legs and fold her arms onto her chest. I pull down the sleeve of her jacket, hiding her ugly wound as all I want the Capitol to see is beauty. That all they ever do is destroy everything that has splendour in the world.

Storm kneels beside her and fits the headband neatly on her head. He then leans down and kisses her softly, before walking away.

"We need to go now Pippa." He says, taking my hand as we walk into the forest, leaving Gracia peacefully.

We stand for a minute and wrap our arms around each other, sobbing on the other's shoulder. Grieving our loss. We promise each other to never go back to that part of the woods again if we can help it.

"What do we do now?" I ask timidly, wiping away the last of my tears.

"We wait."

"We can't just wait Storm!" I shout. "Between us we have one knife; we need to find Austin and Eilish."

"We'll never find them now, it's about to go dark, we're going to have to stay just us two for the night." He replies.

"Where can we go? And we have no food and only enough water for one of us."

"We can go up a tree, and I'm sure we'll be able to make it last the night, we can hunt in the morning Pippa." He says, assuredly.

"Okay, but you're going to have to help me up the tree." I chuckle.

We walk a small while before finding a branch big enough to hold the two of us, not that there is much of us left anymore. Storm has lost so much weight from the first two days of the arena that his skin practically clings to his bone. I'm not much better, though the bread we ate this morning has given me a substantial amount more energy. I'm starving now though from the emotion of today's events.

Storm flies up the tree, I wonder how he does it before remembering he's a lumber. He's been climbing and cutting trees before he could toddle, just as all of the District 7's have.

I pass him a rope from my pack and he hangs on tightly to the branch while lowering it down. I make sure to get a firm grip on it before Storm pulls me up, surprisingly strong. We both shuffle onto the branch securely and sit in silence staring at the crescent moon.

The air is colder than it has been. Whenever I exhale the air clouds up, as if it's freezing. Goose bumps line my back just as they did on the night before the arena.

When I was with Griffin.

I quickly remember my sleeping bag and climb in, sighing from the relief of the warmth. Storm looks at the bag longingly but doesn't speak. He zips up his jacket as high as it will go and sits stiffly.

"We can share if you want?" I say.

"I was secretly hoping you'd ask that," he says with a light giggle.

He quickly climbs in the bag and offers to tie a rope around the trunk to make sure we don't fall out during the course of the night. I thank him and accept his offer.

Within a few minutes we are comfortable. The view of the forest from above is so different, we are quite high up so we can see where the forest ends and where the river and Cornucopia begins. Just thinking about it places Griffin in my head immediately, a huge lump in my throat.

Suddenly the Capitol anthem begins to play, making me and Storm flinch. The seal shows in the clear sky and begins to show the fallen, though we know there is only one today.

Storm grips my hand tightly as Gracia's profile appears in the sky, her face smiling.

"It must be awful for Eilish and Austin to find out like this." I say.

"Pippa I'm sure it was worse for us being there to see it." He replies fairly.

"I'm glad we were there, otherwise she would've died alone. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone, not even Isis."

"I would," he responds, bitterly.

"What did she do to you that was so bad?" I ask.

"It's not what she did to me; it's what she did to our district."

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"Look; it's complicated and I'd rather not talk about it." He says.

"Well we're here, we're not gonna move for the night, just tell me Storm." I say pleadingly.

"She ratted us out to the Capitol for money."

My mouth drops open. "Why? What did you do?" I know the cameras will be off us for this conversation as the Capitol wouldn't dare broadcast this to the districts.

He drops his tone to a whisper. "For killing a Peacekeeper, but people hid his body so the Capitol wouldn't find him. Isis told the Capitol. That's why it's better she's dead."

I freeze; surely the whole district would be severely punished? I wonder what the Peacekeeper could have done to deserve being killed.

"What did the Peacekeeper do?" I ask.

"He killed my girl." He replies, gulping. "So we killed him. Then they pretty much promised me I'd be in the Games this year, and look. Here I am."

The Capitol set up the reaping? Can they do that? Well everyone knows they have the power to, but no one thought they would be so… cruel.

"You could win it though Storm; prove to the Capitol that you're strong enough?"

"Do you really think they're gonna let me out of here alive?" He says, looking into my eyes.

I don't reply. I can't. I have nothing to say.

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**Hey guys i hoped you enjoyed this chapter! I tried to make it as sad as possible haha, so tell me if i've succeeded. Sorry but i'm not going to be able to post as often anymore but when i do i'll make sure the chapters are a lot longer! Please review if you can! c:**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone! Sorry but i'm going on holiday tomorrow so I won't be updating for a bit more then a week. But please review your opinions, thank you! c:**

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We stare at the stars for a while peacefully as I begin to slip into sleep slowly. I am stirred by something Storm says; a trigger word implanted into my mind. _Griffin._

"What?" I ask, panicked.

"I know the Career, Griffin; I know he loves you." He says calmly.

"What, no he doesn't!" I say, adding a forced laugh.

"Pippa I'm not stupid." He replies. "Gracia told us she saw him give you mercy. He's a Career, he wouldn't do that unless. You know."

"No, no, no. I escaped." I say, with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Okay." He sighs.

The night passes quickly in the heat of the sleeping bag, but no nightmares haunt my rest as they have been doing all too often lately. I awaken to see Storm clutching my arm tightly. I slowly rise to see that he has undone the bandage and is applying some sort of ointment to the wound. He doesn't look as if his arm is in pain himself; though his eyes sag, indicating he can't have had much sleep.

"I got a parachute this morning." He says, showing his own arm which looks surprisingly normal. "I think everyone must have got some from their sponsors."

"Only the people who _have_ sponsors." I remind him.

"Well the tributes that haven't I'm sure will be dead by this afternoon so they're less people to worry about."

I brush off this comment. "Anyway; we need to find water. Now."

Storm nods and we set off towards the lake, or what of the route we remember. The path doesn't seem familiar at all until we find the tree with a puddle of blood underneath. The tree under which Gracia died.

As we walk past the tree Storm puts his arm round me comfortingly. I give him a small smile of thanks as my throat is too dry to talk.

Eventually we find the lake, it has dried up rapidly in the heat of the day, but it is still full enough for a large bottle of water. I dip the bottle into the water while Storm takes guard. It takes all of my effort not to gulp down the dirty water, but it has to be disinfected. I rustle through my pack noisily until I finally find the iodine.

"I'm just disinfecting it now." I croak as add in a few drops.

"Give me some of that?" I hear. This is not Storm's voice.

I whip around to see Caspar behind Storm, his hands gripping tightly on a rope around Storm's neck.

I expect my ally to be panicking but the look on his face shows me the rope isn't too tight. This buys me more time to think.

"W-where's your bow Caspar?" I ask.

"Why does it matter where it is? I can easily kill him with this." He laughs.

Wrong. I can tell Storm is a lot stronger than him, he could easily overthrow him. He is just letting him do it so I can kill Caspar myself. I suppose he thinks I hate him, maybe not. I never know what is going through Storm's head.

"If you let him go I can give you more arrows, I have some in my pack." I say.

"You're bluffing," he says, shuffling his feet.

"No. I'll get them for you if you like."

He looks at me suspiciously as I pick up my pack and walk slowly towards him. My hand clasps around my dagger. Storm winks at me knowingly.

I quickly take out the knife, lunging at Caspar. He recoils, as I expected, dropping the rope from his hand letting Storm free.

"Just kill him Pippa!" Storm says. "You have a knife in your hand, do it!"

I took into Caspar's eyes, his bright green eyes, to see despair. He would never kill Storm. He would never hurt me. Before the Games I would've thought he was capable of anything, but now, I can see he is just as scared as me.

"Pippa!" Storm screams in my ear.

"I can't, okay! He's from my district I can't do that!" I reply, tears filling my eyes. "Go back to Azure, go Caspar!"

He sprints through the forest without looking back. Storm takes hold of my shoulders and turns me to face him, I reluctantly look in his eyes to see him glaring at me.

"You can't keep letting people live Pippa, they have to die, this is the Hunger Games, and only one person comes out."

"What's going to happen if I'm the only one left then?" I ask. "See, I can't kill you. I can't kill the best friend I've ever had. I'm not going to do that."

His grip on my shoulders loosens, his eyes redirected to the floor. "I don't want to think about that now."

I brush his hands of my shoulders and pick up the water bottle, gulping it quickly. After drinking half the bottle I pass it to Storm, not even glancing in his direction. I swiftly pick up my pack and begin walking in no particular direction, I just need to be alone.

He trails behind me slowly, continuingly asking me what we are going to do, what our next goal is. I don't reply. It's not until I trip over a root from a tree and graze my knee that we actually talk.

"Let me help you up," he laughs.

"No I'm absolutely fine." I say, raising my head high, though I can feel my cheeks turn scarlet. He grabs my hand firmly anyway and yanks me up. "Thanks."

"No problem," he thinks for a while, his temple creasing, before making another response. "I think we should find Austin and Eilish today, I mean, they may have food."

"Sure." I say bluntly.

I brush off the dirt from my legs and continue ambling, trying hard not to limp.

As we walk in utter silence, I enjoy the view of the sky. Blackbirds tweeting, the gentle sway of the trees in the breeze. These are the moments I love most in life. When I find something so peaceful that there is no need for words.

I could tell that Storm wasn't in the same state of mind though. As we persevered through unknown parts of the forest, he wanders along biting his lip mindlessly.

My trail of thought is interrupted by the chilling sound of the cannon echoing through the arena.

"Must have been from the tracker." Storm says nonchalantly.

I nod, not bringing up the possibility that it could be Austin or Eilish. It's terrifying that we've only been in this place for five days and we're already beginning to process how immoral they are making us.

Something I told myself I would never do is hurt someone, and just two days ago I sank my knife into a girl's chest whom I didn't even know. I wonder what may go through the Career's minds, knowing they have killed the majority of the tributes dead. I wonder what Griffin feels.

Soon enough we come across a flock of birds near another lake, I had never seen them before but Storm assured me they were fine. After a few launches of my knife I manage to take down a large bird by the top of its leg. As soon as it's down Storm offers to take over and delivers the death blow, before skinning the poor creature.

"Bit rusty aren't you?" He jokes.

I try to keep an expressionless face; however I can't help but grin.

We refill our water supply in this lake, this time Storm keeping proper watch. I let my mind drift as I wait for the first bottle to purify.

I can't help but think that I'd rather we didn't find Austin and Eilish. We're doing fine on our own and it's only more people to provide for. I'm aware that thinking this is extremely selfish of me, but that is what this is about – only one person wins. And I promised Bluebell I would try.

I look at the tiny waves rippling through the stream tranquilly; just like the ripples of the sea. I can't get the image of Gracia out of my mind. I try to think of after we had made her beautiful; her soft features and embellished crown. But all I can think of is her body in the crumpled mess that she died in. I can't shake this feeling that I need to avenge her in some way. To help myself let her go, but there is no way to do that. No one in this arena is responsible for her death. It's all the Capitol.

I have to restrain myself from mentioning this to Storm as President Snow will be watching our every move. He doesn't want anyone talking of revenge unless it's about the pawns in his Hunger Games. If I was to mention any sort of uprising against the Capitol, even the tiniest of things, I would be dead by the end of the day. That's why it's better to keep my mouth shut and grieve silently.

Voices. I tilt my head to hear them. A boy and a girl.

"It's Austin and Eilish!" Storm says cheerily, jumping to his feet.

I give out a small, fake smile and just hope we won't have to provide for them.

"Eilish!" Storm hisses.

I see her long brown hair whip round as she turns defensively, the small knife in her hand.

"Storm! We thought one of you were dead!" She replies, running to him at full speed, Austin jogging behind. She squeezes him tightly, head on his shoulder. He returns the embrace quickly, his arms around her waist; his eyes closed contently. After about a minute she lets go of Storm and also comes to hug me. "We won't ever leave you again."

Storm and I nod at Austin, who looks almost as happy to see us. They pick up piles of berries and plants that they have found and offer them to us.

"They're completely edible, I swear." Austin says, popping a red berry in his mouth. I shrug my shoulders and take one. "Just take off the stalk."

I pull off a small green stem and delicately nibble on it. It tastes delicious, with small seeds dotted around the surface.

"We have them at home." Eilish says, eating appreciatively. "They're called strawberries."

I nod, shoving another couple in my mouth and chewing, the sweet flavour spreading across my tongue. I'm starting to feel happier that they're here already.

We spread the berries between us, as well as the bird we had killed earlier. Everyone gnaws on their food without a sound; not bringing up what we all know has to be said. It begins to become unbearable so I pipe up.

"Are your arms okay?" I ask Austin and Eilish. They look at me confusedly.

"Yeah they're fine." Austin says slowly.

"What?" I say, perplexed. "Didn't they burn your arms?" I lift the sleeve of my jacket, showing the small scarring down it.

"Come to mention it, they did start to hurt for a minute… yesterday. But then it stopped." He replies.

I check his and Eilish's arms to see them completely unharmed. I turn to Storm.

"Theirs must have started after ours, and then stopped when, you know." I say.

"What?" Eilish says, creasing her brow.

For the next few minutes Storm and I explain to them all about what had happened, Gracia's death included. As soon as we reach the peak of the story – making the wreath of flowers for her, tears are pouring down both of their faces.

"It must have been so awful." Eilish whimpers.

"It was. But we don't need to bring it up anymore, there have already been enough tears shed." Storm says bravely.

We all nod and begin eating our meat. It's not much between us, but we haven't exactly been starving in these past few days. We're the lucky ones.

As we begin to settle for the night, the Capitol seal shows and the anthem plays. The only face in the sky tonight is the girl from District Eleven.

"I told you," Storm says to me. "She didn't have any sponsors."

"But she was the only one left from her district."

"So? If they don't think she can win, they won't pay. Simple as that."

Our lives in their hands. It's as simple as that.


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm back! Sorry this chapter is a bit quick, it is just a filler, the real drama will happen next chapter c:. Thank you for all of the reviews, favourites and follows! They all mean so much to me! Yeah anyway, thank you for reading, please review c:**

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Eilish and I share a sleeping bag while Storm and Austin promise they'll be able to make do with their jackets. We'll be guarding in a few hours anyway, so we can swap then.

The air is bitter cold again so I burrow my head under the sleeping back, partly restricted due to Eilish also sharing. I hear Eilish's heavy breaths within a few minutes, the moonlight directed on her face so I can see the twitch of her eyes.

I begin to drift off, but just before I start to pick up on a conversation between Storm and Austin.

"Tomorrow we need to get the Careers." Says Austin. "If we can't get all four of them, one is still good enough."

"So you want me to help you think of a plan?" Storm replies.

"Yep, I haven't got anything yet. I can't figure out their weaknesses. Me and Eilish have been watching them all day and nothing has happened. They went out hunting but came back with nothing."

I hear Storm laugh. "The boy from two. Griffin I think his name is. We can get to him through Pippa."

"What do you mean?"

"Gracia told me. He saved her, which means he loves her." Storm continues quickly. "A Career doesn't give mercy unless there is emotion involved. She tries to deny it but I know it's true, though I don't think she loves him back."

"Perfect." Austin utters. "We can think of a plan with Pippa in the morning."

"Settled."

If only they knew that I'd heard. If only I could defend myself in some way; defend Griffin. But I can't think about it so I'll push it to the back of my mind and sleep.

In a couple of hours I'm awoken by Storm, who looks exhausted. He clambers in my sleeping bag as me and Eilish take watch.

I decide not to mention it to her as she'll only worry about me. We sit in silence for most of the night; I pick apart leaves to entertain myself while Eilish sketches complex patterns in the dirt with her fingers.

Soon enough I can hear footsteps, not that of a single person, but many. I turn to see Eilish frozen, her hand planted firmly on the earth, her eyes looking frantically at me.

"It's okay they won't find us." I say uncertainly.

Just to be sure we camouflage ourselves with soft leaves, being sure to make no noise. After about half an hour of extreme discomfort the steps seem to subside, going in the opposite direction to our camp.

We slowly rise and brush off the leaves from our bodies. Next time we must be more prepared. Who knows what could have happened if they had found us? I do know – we'd all be dead, whether Griffin had tried to save me or not.

The sun quickly appears in the sky and within a few minutes the air is already boiling hot, waking the other two. Storm squints in the light of the sun, his silver hair looking particularly bright.

We pick berries for breakfast and eat quietly, neither of the boys bringing up 'the plan'. All of the lovely strawberries seemed to have vanished from the forest so we have had to make do with some sort of sour berries, but they aren't too bad.

"We better have a big breakfast today," Austin says, looking knowingly at Storm.

"What? Why?" Eilish replies. Her face scrunches, making her look comically confused.

We all sit down on the floor while Austin explains.

"We're going to crack the Careers." He says.

"How?" Eilish asks again.

"We've been… watching one of the Career's actions and Storm and I have worked out a way to capture and kill him." Austin says, him and Storm looking directly at me.

"Which one?" Eilish says, still puzzled. I sigh.

"Griffin obviously!" I growl.

Storm nods his head. "Eilish, he loves her. Anyone can tell." He says.

"No!" I reply, burying my head in my hands – my heart beating fast. "He doesn't."

"We have to try!" Austin hisses. "We've been here a week already, people have to die."

I shake my head and try to keep my hands from shaking. Eilish sees this and looks at me worriedly, but doesn't speak.

"What we will do is ambush them at night. We take cover just by the entrance of the forest – by the Cornucopia." Storm says, sketching the two areas in the dirt. "Then we wait until dark. We will have to silently set up a trap using the net in Pippa's pack and then we just need a trigger." He looks up to me.

"I'm the trigger?" I ask.

"Exactly. If you scream Griffin will come running, then we just trap him in the net and stab him. Is everyone okay with that?"

They all agree and I nod my head lightly.

"It's a deal."

The day is long as we trek to the entrance of the forest in the searing heat. There are no animals to be seen meaning nothing to hunt. I do what my family have had to do many times back at home. I take my knife and saw through the tree bark, scooping out the soft inside and handing it round. They look at it disgustedly.

"It doesn't taste too bad." I say to them.

"How do you know?" Eilish asks.

"I ate it back in twelve." I murmur. "In the winter there wasn't much food so we had to make do." I try to sound cheerful but they still give me looks of pity before unhappily shoving the bark in their mouths. They begin to chew and realise it isn't that bad, gnawing intently.

The afternoon drags as the Gamemakers do nothing to hurt us all afternoon; they must have heard our strategy and be waiting for the drama to unfold at nightfall.

By what must be six o'clock our mouths are so dry we are forced to take a detour to the lake. We top up our water bottles and just before we begin to leave a huge eagle perches on a low branch nearby.

"Finally some food!" Storm says, grabbing a knife.

"No!" I screech, knocking the dagger out of his hand.

He looks at me bewildered as the eagle flies away, disturbed by my voice.

"What did you do that for?" He yells.

"Eagles; they're just important to me okay." I mumble, knowing I sound foolish.

He shakes his head at me disgustedly but doesn't reply. We walk back to the spot at the edge of the forest just as night falls.

It takes a while but eventually we see the Careers shuffle into one of their many tents they own. Coincidently Griffin is the first to be on watch, sharpening his spear with a jagged stone. He sits on a rock smirking to himself as he does this.

"He makes me feel sick." Austin whispers.

The four of us crouch for a few more minutes to make sure the rest are asleep. As the seconds pass my stomach cramps progressively. Storm and Austin make the net trap briskly and with little noise; Storm scaling trees silently and tying intricate knots. They cover the net with leaves and then stand back to look at their trap. They both smile smugly and then walk back over to me and Eilish.

"It's all set. Now all we need is you Pippa. You're the only one who can make this work." Austin says expectantly.

I can't. I won't. I'm not going to do that to Griffin after everything he's done for me. Even if he doesn't love me and just because I don't love him, I still won't do it. I owe him too much.

But then I look round at my allies, the fear in all of their eyes and know that I can't betray them.

"Okay." I squeak.

"On the count of three all you need to do is scream." Austin says, squeezing my arm assuredly.

"Mhm." That is all I can say from the sickness I feel in my stomach.

"One, two, three."


	20. Chapter 20

**hey everyone, sorry this chapter took so long, i had extreme block haha. I'm not sure if i like this chapter, certain aspects are good and others bad so please tell me your opinions c:. The next chapter will come out sooner, promise :-). I've just hit 3,000 views, thank you everyone who's read it! Please review guys :-). **

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I open my mouth but no sound comes out.

"Come on!"

"I can't do it," I whimper.

I look to see the desperation plain on his face. "Let me cut you then. Let _me_ do it!" He rushes, his eyes flicking

"What? No, I won't!" I reply, backing away.

"Please! He needs to die, or else we die. You know it's what you have to do Pippa. Or are you condemning us to death?" He says the words so casually, so slick, as if death is just a regular occurrence.

"You can't blackmail me."

Austin picks up the knife and staggers towards me, his eyes filled with fear and anger.

"Austin, stop it!" Storm says, panicked.

He doesn't listen. He treads towards me menacingly with the knife in his hand. I am unarmed, my dagger in the pack. I instruct my legs to stand up and run but they don't obey. I am huddled in front of him, mentally unable to move.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. Scream." His voice has completely changed in pitch to a deep growl. He has transformed into this evil creature.

Storm takes matters into his own hands and tries to knock the knife out of his hold. Austin grabs his hand and I hear a horrific cracking sound; Storm's face crumbling in pain.

Austin clutches my arm roughly and slashes down it, sneering as he does so. I give out a small yelp but refuse to scream. I can't let him hurt Griffin.

"Get off me!" Before I can stop myself something unforgivable escapes my mouth. "You mutt!"

"I'm a mutt, am I?" He snarls.

He grabs my neck and pins me up to a tree, cutting off the oxygen to my throat. I gasp for air but his grip tightens. I can't help it. I try so hard but it happens. A huge yelp of pain echoes through the forest. He smirks in triumph having achieved his goal.

Austin drops me to the floor and I lie there, spluttering. Blood drips to the floor from my arm in a puddle, though my neck hurts far more. I just need to stay here and hope that by some miracle Griffin didn't hear.

"Come on, come on." He says impatiently, still standing just above me.

"Pippa?! Pippa?!" I hear Griffin's words and immediately my heart sinks.

"Griffin," I shout before Austin shoves his hand over my mouth.

I see him stumble into the forest, his eyes darting crazily. Trying to find me.

He turns to look at me and freezes. He looks into my eyes and then changes his gaze to the floor. I follow his eye line to see that my arm is covered in blood, just from the small cut. But clearly he doesn't know that.

He looks back up to my face and his mouth drops open. The slightest movement in his head and I see his eyes glistening, filled with tears.

"What," he whispers, before turning to Austin. "What have you done to her?!"

His face flushes red with fury, his mouth spitting the words. He starts running, faster and faster before I can tell him to stop. He looks so distressed too, almost frantic; all to make sure I'm alright. His feet hammer on the ground as he sprints. But he doesn't see the net, though it's right in front of him. He doesn't see it before his foot has knocked against the rope, encasing the net around him.

Griffin's smart, if in any other situation he would have seen that rope; predicted something like this was going to happen.

The net has covered him head to toe yet he still struggles to get out, his hands trying to rip the tough string. But with no success.

Austin still stands next to me for a while, cackling at Griffin's desperation. After a while he walks forward, clapping his blood stained hands. Griffin stops struggling and looks up, his eyes pleading.

"Well everyone. We've finally got our kill!" He laughs to himself. "See what you don't know, Griffin, is that Pippa helped us with this whole thing."

Griffin raises his head and looks to me as if he's been betrayed. I_ feel _as if I've betrayed him even though I never wanted any of this to happen.

"Griffin, I didn't, you've got to believe me. Please." I say, not even looking at him; slamming my head on the ground in my own frustration.

I open one of my eyelids to see Austin raising his knife, ready to strike my poor defenceless Griffin. Within a second I'm up. I sprint towards Austin and barge him with my shoulder as hard as I can. He drops his knife and stumbles to the floor. This is my opportunity, I can save him. I can actually save him this time!

I take the dagger and grab the rope, sawing it as fast as I can - leaving blisters on my hands.

"Come on Pippa, just a little bit more." Griffin says softly.

I cut off the last bit of rope and take his hand. It's ice cold and shaking from the freezing air. I manage to pull him up and cup my hands around his face.

"It's okay; you're going to be okay!" I say.

But then everything happens too quickly.

Austin gets up and treads towards us. The knife is in my hand. No. It isn't. It's flying through the air now. And my aim is too good. Too good that it hits him and he's lying there against the tree, his eyes glossed over, with my knife lodged in his chest. Eilish is next to him pleading for him to be alright. He mouths something to me but I can't hear. There are so many screams around me but I can't hear them. I finally understand what he's saying.

"Sorry."

He's not terrifying anymore, he's Austin again.

"I'm going to get food and we're out of here. Okay?"

I don't reply. I'm not even sure who's voice it is, or if it's just my mind.

"Look at what you've done!" Eilish screams, tears dripping down her face.

"Pippa let's go!" Griffin shouts behind me, pulling my arm. "Come on! The rest of them are coming out of camp we have to go!"

I take one last look at Austin, Eilish and Storm and then we're gone. It's not until we're deep in the forest that he speaks up again.

"Are you okay?" I reply with nothing, I just amble along with no purpose, no direction, and no will to go on. "Pippa? Pippa listen to me!"

"He's dying because of me. I stabbed him and he's dying, Griffin."

"But you saved me! And we're all that matters now, okay?" He says lovingly.

"I can think for myself, thanks." I reply, coldly.

The sun is beginning to rise already, when I think about it the night has gone so quickly. My thoughts have replayed too quickly. The knife left my hand too quickly.

All three of those things seem to connect but at that moment nothing connected, it was like an animal instinct. Like a mother trying to save her children, or a lover trying to save their other part. An instinct to save Griffin but I didn't think of the costs it would involve. I'm the mutt really, not Austin.

We continue down the forest path when the blast of a cannon sounds, jolting my head. It's Austin, I know it. It has to be. I don't have to be smart to know that Eilish and Storm will be hunting me down, seeking to avenge him.

Griffin opens his arms again in a more warming gesture. I smile gratefully and walk into them, his fingers running through my hair like the night before the arena. He's like my safety blanket; the kind of person who could calm me in any situation. Just like my Father is at home, and how Cinna was in the Capitol.

"I love you Pippa." Griffin says, his voice cracking.

I look into his sincere eyes and I know he means it. Just before I'm about to reply, the sound of a parachute sounds nearby. We both look up, trying to locate the sound. It soon drops a few metres away from us.

"Who's is it?" Griffin says irritably.

"It's mine," I reply, seeing the huge '12' printed on the side.

I open up the container lid to see a note slotted in. I carefully slip the note out and see what is written on it.

'Make sure you know what you're doing – Katniss.'

What? Make sure I know what I'm doing? I open the inner lid of the container and the message now makes perfect sense. I pick up a knife, the kind of one you would use to cut something efficiently, with no mess.

I look to Griffin and know why Katniss has sent me this. A knife for Griffin's back.

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**One last thing, me and two of my friends have set up a SYOT under the author name of 'The3Writers'. The SYOT is still open and we each get 8 tributes to write each, so if you like you can enter your own tribute and it would be lovely if you could follow. We will start posting probably in the beginning of October (sorry for the wait.) Thanks guys!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry that there isn't much action in this chapter, i just felt that i need to show the connection between Pippa and Griffin. So hopefully you like it, please review and tell me your thoughts c:. Thank you so much for follows, favourites and reviews as well, they're all so lovely. c:**

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"What is it?" He says, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"It's – it's a knife." I reply, still dazed.

"Why? I brought a sword and some food with me, we don't need a knife."

"I don't know either." I can't tell him why, he'll never trust me again. Besides, I don't plan on using it in the way Katniss described, so it's irrelevant. "Maybe it's for if we get separated."

"Ah,"

"Eilish and Storm will be out to get me anyway." I say, tactfully changing the subject.

"We need to find shelter then, somewhere they won't go. We could go back to the Cornucopia?"

"Are you mad?"

"There are only two of them in that camp anyway Pippa," He says indifferently.

"Yes, two Careers, Griffin. Even if you get one of them, the other will slaughter me. And I'm pretty sure that tribute will be Lexus."

"Hmm, yeah. Maybe that isn't such a great plan." He says, frowning to himself.

With possibly all of the tributes trying to kill us, we're going to need somewhere completely different, somewhere none of them would ever think of going.

"We could go to the red forest?" I ask, remembering seeing it in the sixty seconds before the games began.

"No. The boy from four went in on one of the first days to get us some food." He says, trying to remember. "There was a noise; though it was so high pitched we could barely hear it. He screamed and then, well, gone."

"Maybe _that _isn't such a good idea either." I reply. "Let's just keep on walking."

"We need water too."

"That's it!" I say excitedly, grabbing his hand and sprinting through the woods to the lake clearing. It looks exactly the same as before, peaceful and serene. "Give me the food."

He looks at me uncomprehendingly, but passes me the packets that he had stored in the Cornucopia. I take all six packets and shove them in the leg of my bodysuit.

"What are you doing?" He laughs.

"Watch me," I reply, winking.

I turn away from him and dive in the water without looking back and swim through the reeds. I paddle in the direction of the alcove, trying hard not to take a breath. As soon as I get to the cave I spring up to the surface, gasping for air.

I quickly push myself up and begin to take the packets out of my bodysuit, stacking them neatly in the corner before diving back in. I gently float up to the surface and chuckle at the look on Griffin's face.

"Where did you go? I thought you had drowned!" He says worriedly.

"Let me show you," I reply. "Trust me." Griffin cautiously walks into the water, flinching as he goes deeper. "Oh come on, stop being a coward." I laugh, before I dunk his head in the water.

For a moment it doesn't feel like we're in an arena, competing in a 'game' where we have to fight to the death. It just feels normal. A happy normal, the kind of normal you feel comfort in.

I take his hand and tow him into the alcove as he isn't much good at swimming himself. I jump out of the water and help pull Griffin into the cave.

"Wow." He says, awestruck. "How did you find this place? It's perfect."

I decide not to reply to the question. "I know, it's beautiful. I could stay here forever."

"In a couple of days they'll want us out." Griffin answers, miserably. "The Capitol need more action."

I think about this and it isn't exactly true. I know the Gamemakers want something that will have the rest of the Capitol glued to their seats, of course. But what if we do that in another way?

Peeta and Katniss for instance. Back at home, three years ago, the whole of the district couldn't look away. Not because of the gore and deaths, but because of the romance. The Capitol love that kind of thing just as much as we did.

Surely this year there will be even more attention? A strong, handsome Career falling in love with a quiet girl from District Twelve. Why would they not want to see how it turns out?

"Maybe not," I reply, snuggling into his shoulder.

"Are you hungry yet?" He says, reaching for the food packets.

"No!" I say, patting his hand away. "This is the only food we have now, you can't just waste it by eating when you feel like it. It doesn't work like that Griffin."

Oh the egotism. He's never had to go hungry, therefore he doesn't understand the importance of those six packets of food during these next few days. I don't know how someone as smart as him could be so naïve.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." I giggle, though I feel unkind.

He smiles delicately to the floor.

I look at him for a while; I mean, properly look at him for the first time. I look at his muddy brown hair and the way the front sticks up in tufts cutely. I look at his face, his prominent cheekbones, the way his eyebrows arch at just the right point. I look at his beautiful eyes, which now look green reflected in the ripples of the lake. I can't help but beam that he's all mine.

"What are you smiling at?" He chuckles.

"I don't know; you." I reply, feeling my cheeks go red. "Isn't it weird that we're here now, together in these circumstances; yet I don't even know how old you are."

"Guess."

I think about it. In my judgement, I think he doesn't even look young enough to be in these games. He's so tall and his muscles are so, well, huge. He looks into his twenties.

"I don't know. Eighteen?" I say vaguely.

"Almost, I'm seventeen." He smiles.

"I knew that…" I joke. "Guess how old I am."

"Oh, I already know that. You're fifteen." He laughs, and then sees the confused look on my face. "The reaping; I watched every single one back."

"Then how do you remember?" I ask, still struggling to comprehend how, out of all twenty four tributes, he managed to recollect my district's reaping. I would've thought that out of all of them, it would be the least likely one he would remember, seeing as we are such an outlying district.

"How could I forget you?" He replies.

I can just feel the chorus of coos coming from the Capitol audience right now. I try to reply through the huge lump in my throat.

"Aw," I say, awkwardly. I can feel my palms getting sweaty. Is that all I can think to say? Really? It's barely a reply compared to his affectionate words. "Tell me about your family."

"There isn't much to tell." He says, pondering. "The only thing that anyone is interested in is that my Father was a victor."

"Really?" I ask.

"Yep, the 52nd Hunger Games." He says, not even with a streak of pride.

"You don't seem very… proud." I respond.

"It's not that I'm not proud of him, I just hate the way he won it."

"What do you mean?"

"His girlfriend at the time was reaped and he volunteered to go in, to protect her. They stayed together through the whole games, until they were the last two left. I don't know, I guess something happened to him in there that changed him. They had promised each other before that they would never harm each other. Yet, at the end of the games, he was the one standing there. A lone victor."

"He killed her?"

"Yes. I've watched back the tapes, over and over and he was so ruthless. The anger in his eyes was so… evil. It makes me shiver every single time I see it."

"I'm sure it was just in the moment, Griffin. He will regret it now." I say, comfortingly.

"Exactly. And do you know what he will be shouting to me right now?" He replies, his own face starting to crumble. "He'll be telling me to kill you, before it's too late, before I love you too much."

"Kill me then." I say, quickly. He has more of a chance then I ever would.

"No Pippa. It is too late. I already love you so much I can hardly stand it. I don't want to be like him. I don't want to be driven so insane that I would just kill you."

And then it happens, just like that. I don't know why at this moment, I don't know what sort of hidden force pushes me to do it. But it just comes so naturally to me.

I slowly lean forward and close my eyes, pressing my lips softly against his. It feels so perfect, so infinitely perfect, that I never want to let go. I just want to hold him forever.

"We're going to make it through this together. I promise."


	22. Chapter 22

**I hope you like it! Please review! c:**

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He smiles at me, then looks to the water to the entrance of the cave.

"It's getting dark." He says. "We should probably check the sky."

The day has gone so quickly, considering neither of us had slept all of last night. Then killing Austin and trying to find shelter way past dawn. Now I think of it, I'm so tired. I can feel my eyes sagging and I know I must only be running on adrenaline.

"No I'm okay." I reply, knowing the only death in the sky will be the one I caused. "I'm going to go to sleep, if that's alright? Or do you want me to go on watch?"

"It's fine; we don't need to go on watch. I'll be back in a minute" He replies, kissing me on the cheek.

I take out my sleeping bag and lay it on the floor of the cave. There isn't enough space to fully stretch out, but at least we have shelter. As I lay it down it rustles the packets of food that I have tried so hard to avoid eating today.

I'll just pick it up, just to check what it is. I'm not going to eat it though. 'Dried plums', plums are my favourites. We would always pick them from the meek little plum tree in our back garden once a year in summer. They were always the best then, nice and juicy.

I put my hand over the packet, knowing that the temptation was too much. I rip it open and begin stuffing them in my mouth, barely able to chew. I close my eyes, savouring every bite.

"Um Pippa what are you doing?"

I look up to see Griffin is back, laughing at me hysterically.

"I - just eating plums." I manage to say, before finishing my mouthful. "You can have some food too, I'm sorry about not letting you earlier. I know you're so, um, big. So you'll need food."

He eats two packets of dried meat and fruit leaving us with only three left. We will have to hunt tomorrow, but at least my stomach feels full enough to be able to sleep.

Griffin and I climb into the sleeping bag, it's even snugger then it was when I had to share with Eilish, but it'll do. I like being close to Griffin anyway. I snuggle into his chest, listening to his heavy breathing.

I close my eyes and try to imagine a place where Griffin and I could be together, somewhere safe and out of President Snow's control. I begin to drift off and enter this world, a happy world with me and Griffin, my family, maybe even his family. We sit side by side on top of a beautiful field, with apple and plum trees all around. We see a figure come up the hill, shouting. Something long in their clasp, as they run frantically towards us. It's Austin coming up the hill clutching a spear ominously. He's faster than us and stabs Griffin repeatedly, it never ends.

I wake up; my finger nails digging deep into Griffin's arm. He looks at me worriedly.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" I say, as the scratches begin to bleed.

"It doesn't hurt; I was just worried about you. You were crying in your sleep." He says, wiping my eyes of the last tears.

"What, you don't have nightmares about this place?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.

"No because I'm strong." He says, winking.

For breakfast we finish off the last three packets, knowing we can always hunt since I have my knife.

We spend an uneventful half of the day staying in the cave, talking about our lives at home and throwing in the occasional kiss for the Capitol.

It's weird how much we have to talk about. I've always thought of my life in District Twelve to be dull, but when I talk about it Griffin hangs on my every word like it's the most interesting conversation he's ever had, even when it's just me talking about what me and my sisters do day-to-day.

"They must really love you." He says sincerely.

"I guess so, but they could live without me." I honestly reply.

"I'm finding that pretty hard to believe, you do a lot for them."

"Barely, I never hunted for food and I could never work." I say, slightly annoyed.

"Yes but you kept up their spirits through all of it, I bet without you they would've ended up like every other kid in the districts."

"I guess." I reply. I don't want to go any further into it, as usual. "I'm so hungry, we should hunt now, and I can teach you if you like?"

"I already know how to." He replies, raising his chin.

We leave our packs in the cave and bring only my dagger and Griffin's sword with us. It will be easily enough to defend ourselves, if anyone is stupid enough to challenge Griffin.

We dip below the water and swim out of the lake. I notice Griffin's swimming has improved immensely. As we climb out of the lake we have called home for the past two days, we walk through the forest hand in hand, weapons poised in the other.

"I saw something that resembled a turkey yesterday, not too far away. It was nestled in the bush over there." He whispers, pointing to it with his sword.

"Get me a stone." I mouth. He drops my hand and picks up a large stone directly by his foot and passes it to me.

I flick my wrist quickly and it knocks against the tree sharply, startling the bird so that it runs in the exact direction I wanted. I quickly raise my arm and fling the dagger, landing it on the bird's stomach. It's slightly off centre, but good enough to kill it almost immediately.

"Well done!" Griffin says, picking me up and spinning me around, leaving me giggle embarrassingly. "Let me skin it."

He walks towards the dead bird cautiously, as if it is about to spring back to life and bite his head off. When I think of it, it does sound like something the Gamemakers would do.

"Hurry up!" I say cheekily.

"Alright, alright!" He replies, approaching it.

He goes to lift the bird, wrapping his hands around its plump body.

Suddenly the bird bursts in his hands, petals flying in the sky. I scream and run over to Griffin, checking he's safe.

"Are you okay?!" I screech.

"Yeah I'm fine." He says, looking slightly bewildered.

"You scared me half to death, what happened?"

"I don't know. The air around it seemed to push out. There was a loud noise and then, well, it had gone."

I look up quickly to see petals falling to the ground right in front of us. What are the Gamemakers doing?

Unexpectedly a voice booms from the sky, the voice of Claudius Templesmith, to be precise.

"Tributes! Since you now all have witnessed our surprise, you may now realise there is no more food left to scavenge." He shouts boldly. "We would like to invite you to a mid-games feast! It is not compulsory, but I suggest you turn up unless you want to be… hungry, in these last few days. The feast will begin tomorrow at noon and will be held at the Cornucopia."

Griffin nods to me, suggesting we should go.

"Oh and one more thing; the feast will only begin when there are only eight tributes left. At the present moment, there are nine. If there are more than the selected number of tributes present, the feast will be revoked and you will be left with nothing." Claudius laughs. "May the odds be ever in your favour."

My face drops, we both know what this will mean.

"Griffin, they're going to hunt us!" I shout. "We're going to be the only ones they want to find, they'll get us."

"No, no, no. They'll get a weaker one, you'll see. They need to be sure that there will be a feast. They'll target someone easy!" He says, trying to reassure me.

"Yes Griffin! That's me! I'm the easy target!" I reply, my breath starting to speed up.

"They we'll hunt them!" He shouts back, in a frightening voice, a voice I've never heard before. He begins to speak quieter. "Then we'll go to the feast. We'll kill them all, you'll see; or at least a few of them. We'll get food and be able to live. Then we kill the rest of them. And then…" His voice trails off.

"Okay, okay."

"Let's go now."

"Right now?" I ask, shocked.

"We might as well get on with it. There's a chance they'll be collecting there weapons now, we can get a good head start."

We trek slowly and carefully through the woods, both hands on our weapons now. It's serious, we aren't hunting animals anymore, we're hunting people.

"I don't want to kill Storm or Eilish. Only the rest of them."

"We might have to." He replies.

This in itself makes me feel sick to my stomach. I just hope that they'll be hidden somewhere, smart enough to know the rest of us will be hunting.

We walk for hours longer, still not finding a single tribute.

"Right, we'll make a fire. Attract attention." Griffin says.

I agree, I just want this day to be over already. If we need to kill someone today as well as tomorrow then so be it.

"How many have you already killed Griffin?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I don't know."

"Think." I reply through gritted teeth.

"Umm, seven."

I gasp, surely that must be the most out of all of the tributes here. Killing two people doesn't even seem to touch that. The fact that he is so laid back about it, it makes me wonder, maybe when the time comes to it he will kill me?

I watch him make the fire, heaving huge branches on top to make the smoke extra thick. I manage to light it using one of the few skills I actually managed in the training centre. Now it's just a waiting game.

We stay alert, back to back so we can see all around us, no surprises. As we begin to tire a voice echoes from quite far away, yet still close enough to be in the forest.

"I've found it! I've found the fire!" A girl laughs.

"Amaris." Griffin whispers. "It's the other two Careers, stay by me okay. Don't leave my side and they won't kill you."

We hide behind a large tree, waiting until they are within shooting distance. I can still hear their cocky voices, edging closer. Talking about who will do it, _how _they will do it. It's too graphic for my imagination so I block them out.

My heart beats fast, ready for the life or death situation.

Griffin squeezes my arm, the signal to attack.

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**Sorry for the cliffhanger again, but please tell me what you think!**


	23. Chapter 23

**I'm so sorry this has taken so long everyone! But yeah please tell me what you think, what you like and dislike c:**

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We spring out from behind the tree to see a red haired girl flip her hair around, a bow and arrow in her hand. Slightly behind her is a boy, brown hair, a large knife in his hand. Neither of them are anyway near as strong or big as Griffin, but easily more petrifying.

"So _that _is what you left us for?" The boy laughs.

I grip my hand round my knife, so tempted just to stick it right in his skull, but I promised Griffin I would stay behind. They're so arrogant, taking the time to spite me before they attack us. Griffin should just stab them with his sword, right now.

I watch all three of them, staring each other out.

"So you're going to try to save your girlfriend, are you? I wonder what Lexus will do to her when we take her back to camp." Amaris says bitterly.

"You won't touch her." Griffin replies, putting his arm in front of me defensively.

They both laugh uproariously, while they wipe their weapons with their shirts.

"Can we just get this over with?" I whisper.

"We just have to wait for the right moment." He replies; a bit too loudly.

"I don't think so." Amaris replies before she leans and bites Griffin's arm. Making him recoil. This leaves the boy enough time grab me and put a knife to my throat.

I struggle, the boy just cackling at my poor attempt.

"No, no, no." The boy tuts, tightening his hold around my throat – making me wretch.

The two careers converse casually as my neck is squeezed tighter and tighter. I begin to feel light headed when I see Griffin looking at me, trying to sign something.

The boy and girl barely notice when Griffin nods his head, pointing in a certain direction. I look back confusedly, before quickly moving his eye line. I try to turn my head to see what he is pointing out. His leg? His thigh?

"What?" I mime.

He kicks his leg sharply into the air and nods.

"What do you think you're doing?" Amaris hisses, slamming Griffin's head down.

Think, think. Kicking, leg. No it can't be.

"Toss me the knife." She says to the boy.

She clutches the knife in her grubby hands, bearing it down on Griffin's face as he thrashes around, unable to move from her grip on his arms.

"This is just so you don't forget me." She says, the knife touching his face.

"No! Stop it!" I scream as she carves an 'A' into his cheek, the dirty blade opening his skin so it bleeds. He lies there emotionlessly, not even wincing as she does it.

As the anger consumes my body I finally realise what I have to do. I lift my leg up and kick backwards, hitting the boy's crotch hard.

I laugh as he doubles up in pain; I'm so enraged I barely know what I'm doing as I continually punch his stomach. He tries to retaliate but I kicked him so hard I'm certain he won't be able to get up for a while.

I turn to the girl to see her now engraving an 'M' on his face. She's hardly noticed what I've done.

I run at full speed and manage to knock her over, not even thinking about the knife in her hand. She claws at my face viciously until Griffin picks me up and throws me to the ground beside her.

He takes my knife and spears her repeatedly, blood pouring from her mouth in a scarlet fountain. The cannon sounds but he keeps stabbing, before I have to pull the dagger out of his hand myself.

I turn around to see the boy has fled, leaving me and Griffin alone in the woods next to Amaris' corpse.

Her beady eyes stare at me. Her face as white as a ghost's, and her matted hair covering the side of her mouth. I can still see the blood in her mouth, almost spilling from her lips. I look down at her stomach to see patches everywhere. Ten, maybe even twenty stabs.

I turn to Griffin, who stares down guiltily.

"Your face," I stutter. There is so much blood I can't even see the outlines of the letters. I try to wipe it away with my hands but it's still pouring out. "Let's get it washed. Leave her here." I spit.

I see his eyes are bloodshot, and his pupils, they're so small you can barely see them. Even his teeth are coated with the dark red blood. It's dripped all down his neck and is seeping through his bodysuit.

We're safe until the morning, I'm sure of it. Now that there are only eight of us that's enough for the feast. I know there will be plenty of action then.

We finally get to the river, and I make Griffin walk straight in. I gently wash his face, the water around us turning crimson, as if it has dyed the water. The cuts are deep on his cheeks, the top of the 'A' going right down to his cheekbones. The wobbly line next to it that I guess represents an 'M', though she didn't get that far.

"You're alright," I smile. "I'll just put a bit of medicine on it and you'll be right as rain."

I dip under the water, into the cave and retrieve the ointment I used on my leg from the pack. It's half empty, but there will be enough for a couple of uses.

"It might hurt a little." I say as I gently dab it on his cheek. He doesn't even flinch and his eyes stay glazed over. "Feeling any better?"

"A bit, I guess." He murmurs.

"Good. We can go back now, and I won't let them hurt you again. I promise."

He chuckles and ruffles my hair before we swim back in to the cave. I snuggle into his chest, knowing that he needs me.

"What happens if one of us doesn't make it tomorrow?" He asks, uncharacteristically negative.

"Then you carry on and win it, for me." I say, with a light smile.

"Well what if it's me that dies, who will protect you?" He frowns.

"We both know that won't happen. Let's save our worrying until tomorrow. I think we've both had enough pain today." I say, stroking his scarred cheek.

So we don't. We don't mention anything of the day's events, or the fact that one of us can be taken from the other in an instant.

My stomach begins to rumble, but I don't speak of it. Griffin must be feeling it to but he doesn't mention it, so why should I? I look into the water, longing for some food to satisfy my cravings. There isn't even the seaweed that once layered the lake floor anymore. They've taken it all away.

The cold air creeps up on us, even in this sheltered cave. I almost feel sorry for the people who are above the ground.

"I wonder how they feel at home." Griffin says out of nowhere.

"Well I already know what your Father thinks of me." I laugh, miming slitting my throat.

"Yeah well, if I ever do go home, I'd come and live with you."

"You couldn't." I laugh. "If you go home, that means I'm dead. They won't let two out again. They're already a joke." I spit.

"But I don't want to be dead." He whimpers.

I roll my eyes and silence him with a kiss. A long one. For the first time he puts his hand on my face lightly and the other on my waist, pulling me closer. I can barely take a breath between kisses, though it's as if it's only me and him, not the Capitol watching our every move, every kiss, every embrace.

"That was nice," He whispers, biting his lip.

"I'd agree." I reply cheekily.

He leans in again but I push him away. "We need to sleep; this could be our last night." I gulp.

"Which is why I'm glad I spent it with you." He says, running his hands through my tangled hair.

I smile at him. Fully. My crooked teeth showing and everything, I can't help it. I cuddle into him and fall fast asleep, not wanting to awaken in the morning to come.

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	24. Chapter 24

**Hey everyone! I'm so sorry i haven't updated in so long, but hopefully this makes up for it as it's extra long. It took soooo long to write, so i really hope you like it c:. Please review if you can because they're all lovely to read and help me out a lot. Thank you everyone! **

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"Pippa? Pippa wake up."

I open my eyes to see a blurred Griffin tickling my chin.

"Stop that! Stop it!" I giggle, hitting him weakly.

"Well at least it woke you up." He laughs.

We swim out of the cave and just sit beside the lake on the dusty ground. I look on the earth to see two clovers that have somehow grown through the dry earth. I pick them delicately and lay one in Griffin's hand.

"It'll keep you safe, today." I say, piercing a tiny whole in the shoulder of his bodysuit and weave the stem of the clover into the material.

He smiles cutely and puts my clover into my hair, right next to my clip.

I look at him to see that his face has healed up considerably, though you can still see the outlines from the knife on his faultless skin.

"We haven't come out of this too badly yet have we?" I say.

The only thing that shows our time here in the arena are the small scars on his skin and the hollowness of our stomachs. I also see the scarring on my wrists from the tracker, but it seems wrong to count it.

"There's always today. Or tomorrow. Or the next day." He replies, very matter of fact. He gets up and wipes the dirt from his legs. "We should get going. The feast isn't going to wait for us."

I look up in the sky to see the sun almost central in the sky. I would say it was about ten o'clock, maybe eleven. Not much time before it begins. We both takes handfuls of water and sip them down quickly, our iodine is long gone. It doesn't seem like the Gamemakers are letting any sponsors send parachutes anyway.

We walk through the forest towards the Cornucopia, weapons in hand. As we gradually get closer I see that leaves have been charred off trees, the branches crisp and black. A spearhead lies on the floor; the wooden cane attached to it must have burnt off.

I pick up the spearhead and hide it within the obliterated branches so no one can get their hands on it.

We arrive at the entrance of the Cornucopia and survey our surroundings, wondering where the feast will be placed. It could be on our side of the river, the opposite side, the left or right. The most probably place will be exactly where the Cornucopia horn is placed, on the ground that is surrounded by the river.

"Is that sand?" Griffin queries, pointing to a small section by the horn. I look to see a light grainy colour, the definite texture of sand.

"I guess so." I reply.

"That wasn't there before. Ha. The boy has moved his camp." Griffin laughs.

Suddenly a huge breeze whips towards us, my hair flying in front of my face. Griffin puts his arms around me defensively before it subsides slightly and we can look at the source of the gale.

A hovercraft materialises a few hundred metres in front of us, right next to the horn. Peacekeepers in white suits tread down from ladders onto the floor of the arena.

"They could get killed, what are they doing?!" I ask.

"No look, if you squint your eyes you can see it." Griffin points.

"See what?" I say, confused.

"The force field."

I squint my eyes as instructed and see the air oscillate a few metres around the hovercraft. Oh right, I understand.

They lay a small wicker table on the ground, nothing fancy, just like the ones we have in District 12. They bring a small crate and begin opening it. I can imagine the excitement in the other tributes' hearts, just the same as mine.

My stomach rumbles at the thought of what delicious foods could be in those crates, as they edge it open slowly. Torturing our minds.

They begin laying loaves of bread on the table. Four loaves, five, six, seven, eight. Enough for each of us, that's if we all get it. That's not the idea of the feast though. An apple, an orange and a pot of jam.

"That's it?! That's all we get." Griffin says as we watch the Peacekeeper clamber back into the hovercraft. Within a moment's notice there is another gust of wind and then it fades away into thin air.

There is an unnerving silence for a minute. No one knowing when to move or where to.

"Grab everything you can Pippa and run back to the forest. Then I'll kill a few of them okay? I'll make sure that I'm right next to you the whole time." He whispers, holding me close.

He leans down to my height and looks me in the eye.

"I know this is going to sound so soppy." He laughs. "But, I – uh, if I die. I want you to know that I uh, I love you." He stutters.

"And I love you too. More than anything in this sick world." I whisper. And I mean it. I blink continuously to try to get rid of the tears in my eyes.

He drops his shoulders and smiles. I look at him and we both silently laugh to each other.

I hear the sound of feet padding across the floor and see Azure sprinting towards the food. This almost starts a chain reaction.

Caspar follows behind her, then Lexus and the boy from one sprint from the other side.

"Let's go!" Griffin says, before kissing my forehead. "Three, two, one."

I grab my knife tightly and sprint head on to the table. Griffin stays slightly behind me even though I'm sure he can run faster.

Our pace picks up; I can now see Storm and Eilish leaving from the woods in the corner of my eye, hand in hand. I stumble through the river, the water droplets blurring my vision for a minute, before we are on flat land.

I freeze. The table is right in front of me, the bread being taken. _Move your legs! _ Griffin runs ahead, picking up two loaves and trying to fight off other tributes.

What happens if he dies? His family? His friends? Me? So many things flying around my head in a single moment that I go numb. I can feel or do anything, I'm stuck. Watching this unfold ahead of me.

But my body is tipping. Why is it tipping?

I blink my eyes sharply before I feel the side of my face smash into the ground. It slams again and again before I realise that Azure is the source of this. I manage to pull my hands from underneath my body and claw her face.

Luckily she backs away, holding her bloodied face in her hands. The other tributes seem to leave us alone to kill each other, not bothering to get involved. I look over to the table to see every single loaf gone, as well as the fruit.

Griffin is a few hundred metres away, just in front of the river, battling the boy from 1.

I stand up as she wipes the trails of blood down her face, her hands red and dripping.

"Let's just get this over with." She whispers.

I take the moment to pound my hands into her shoulders as I tackle her to the ground. I quickly reach for my knife to find that it has slid down the leg of my bodysuit, out of my grasp.

She grabs my wrist and twists it. Hard. I hear my bone crunch and it enrages me even more. I wrap my hands around her neck and squeeze fiercely on her windpipe as her mouth lets out small coughs. _Keep it up a minute longer and she'll be dead, it will be quick, _I think to myself.

No such luck. My wrist is killing me by now, but she takes my arm and pulls me to the floor. She strikes a punch that lands right into my teeth, causing the inside of my lip to spurt blood.

I take it in for a few seconds, trying to analyse how many parts of my body hurts, but there are too many to count. I manage to prop myself on my arm and land one huge kick to her stomach. You can even see the jolt of impact as her body flies into the sand.

"Finish her off!" I turn to see Storm, who has turned around from fleeing to give me some… words of encouragement? I give him a half smile as I can feel my lip already swelling and crawl my way over to Azure.

Her eyes are shut, she's possibly unconscious. I look around to see the rest of the tributes scattered around the plain, none close to me though.

By the time that I am by her side her eyelids are flickering and I can just about make out the white of her eyeball underneath her long eyelashes. Her mouth groans as she struggles up to her knees.

She opens her eyes, and gasps in panic. I fly backwards to defend myself when I see her body lowering.

What is she doing?

I crane my head up slightly. She seems to be… sinking.

"Pippa, Pippa help me!" She screams.

I sprint over to her, her arms flailing to grab onto me. Her legs are slowly descending into the sand, it' thick as it seems to be dragging skin as well. Her eyes look at me pleadingly.

"Please help me." She whimpers, her voice straining.

"I can't." I say, turning around spinelessly. I can't watch the rest of this.

I try to block out her screams as I look across the plain. Griffin and the boy, still there, still fighting. He thought it would be easy. Then there is Lexus, running over to another figure, I can't tell who it is. I can only just make out Lexus by her bright blonde hair.

The screaming is beginning to sound muffled. _Don't turn around, you won't like what you see. _I try so hard not to but instinctively my feet twist and my eyes are suddenly locked on Azure.

"Oh my god." I whisper.

Half of her face is completely covered by the quicksand, her mouth and nose entirely submerged. Her pretty little eyelashes are covered with grains and her eyes have turned a haunting grey colour.

"I'm going to help you now, you'll be okay!" I say shakily, as I begin digging through the sand. I know it's dangerous, but I can't let her die like this.

Of course, she can't hear me because I can now only see small tufts of her hair laying on the surface. A light beige colour suddenly spreads across the sand, indicating that it's dry. I begin scooping the sand out with my hands, tunnelling to find her.

A cannon.

I still won't stop digging until I know it's her. For all I know it could be the boy from one, or any of the rest of them.

I eventually stop when I see her cold face, eyes wide open. Sand resting beside her pupils. Her mouth is filled with it, tinted red with her blood.

I sit for a moment, aware that I'm an easy target. But I stay there, and cover her back with sand. Hopefully the hovercraft won't get her.

Another cannon.

"Griffin?! Griffin?!" I scream, running towards where I see him and the boy, both on the floor. I stop next to them, to see he's okay.

"Thank god, I thought you were dead!" I say, holding his face to check it really is him and I'm not just imagining it. He's bleeding a bit, but I'm sure not as bad as I am.

The boy lies there, still and cold.

"Pippa, look." He says quietly, pointing to the distance.

I gasp. "Eilish."

I spring up to start moving but Griffin catches me by my waist.

"What are you doing?!" I shout.

"You are not getting involved, Lexus will kill you." He says sternly, instructing me like a teacher would. "We can go further to look, but I'm not letting you near her."

I know I can't argue, he won't budge. So I have to watch from afar, though I can still hear them.

"No, stop, please!" Eilish screams as Lexus rips some skin off her tiny hands.

"You tried to kill me? You couldn't leave a scratch." She laughs. "You deserve everything that's coming to you."

She reaches into a pocket that she must have made herself, just next to her thigh. It's hard to see what she has got until she lifts it up in the air. The metal glistening.

The only time I've seen it before is in the prep room, a needle for injecting things into your body. Cinna promised it wouldn't hurt, that they only needed to give me 'extra nutrients'. But it did. A lot.

"What is that?" Eilish says in horror.

"Just a little thing I thought of myself." Lexus cackles. "You see, when you get sponsors like mine, they like to give you something…. interesting. Poison. Just to, liven it up. You see, I was going to use them as darts, but it's so, so tempting."

"St-Storm! Help me please." Eilish cries, tears falling down her cheeks.

"He's not here now. He didn't know that I dragged you from the woods, did he?" She says, putting on a lisp.

She takes the needle and lowers it teasingly towards her neck. Eilish attempts to kick her, but no success. Lexus is angry now, really angry. Before I can even struggle away from Griffin, she puts the needle deep into her neck, injecting the liquid slowly.

"That should do." She says with a snigger. "I'm off to find your boyfriend now darling. Oh and I'll be taking this too." She picks up an apple and an orange from her side, picks up her knife and runs into the forest.

"Please Griffin, please. We need to save her." I say, almost in tears.

"We can't, okay? That's probably a mixture of nightlock and harmace. She'll be in so much pain she won't be able to help herself." He says sorrowfully.

We begin to walk away to the forest, slowly so we don't bump into Lexus. I can't keep my eyes off of Eilish, her body trembling, her arms not able to stay on the ground. She groans in pain every now and then and I can barely take it. I almost hate Griffin for not letting me help her, but I know as well that there is nothing we can do.

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	25. Chapter 25

**Sorry everyone that I haven't updated in so long, I needed to do a lot of changes to the story. Thank you for the reviews, I will keep your opinion in mind. I hope you like the chapter. Please tell me any questions and critisisms or what you like about it because it helps. Thank you c:**

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As we are almost at the entrance of the forest Storm suddenly bursts through the trees, blood trickling down his cheek.

"Eilish?! Eilish?!" He shouts, before he sees us. He doesn't even worry to defend himself; he seems so distraught that he doesn't care. "Have you seen her?!" He asks, almost pleading to us.

"Storm, we know where she is…" I say before he interrupts.

"Where? Where is she?"

"Storm, listen."

"I need to find her!"

"Listen to me!" I scream in his face. "She's… she's dying."

His eyes immediately fill up with tears, his lip quivering.

"What?" He whimpers.

"Lexus got her, she injected her with poison. She's on the plain, over there." I say, not even able to look at him.

He doesn't reply and sprints over to her; I follow close behind with Griffin. She's still in the same state, worse. Her eyes are shaking slightly in their sockets; her lips have turned a dark purple.

"No. No, no, no, no." Storm repeats, his nails scraping down his face. He drops to his knees beside her, holding her trembling hand.

All me and Griffin can do is stand back and watch her death drag on and on before our eyes.

She mumbles a something that none of us can quite make out. We all look blankly at each other until Storm shakes her, indicating to say it again.

"Sta- me"

"What are you saying?" Storm cries, a tear rolling down his cheek.

She takes one deep breath. "Stab me." She says a lot clearer.

"No it's okay; we're going to save you." He says assuredly. I think he honestly does believe that himself. He begins taking out his water bottle and trying to pour it down her throat, causing her to choke.

"It's not going to work." I say. But he carries on. "Storm?"

Griffin suddenly picks Storm up and shouts straight in his face. "Listen to me! You can't save her, we know it, she knows it and deep down you know it! Get it over with; don't make her go through anymore."

Storm seems shook, looking at Griffin with the utmost hatred in his eyes.

"You do it!" He shouts back, twice as loud. Standing right next to Griffin.

"Fine!" He says, taking his knife from the side of his bodysuit. He bends down to Eilish and sweetens his tone. "It'll hurt a little, but it won't be for long okay?"

"No! Storm." She shouts, her voice breaking.

"Griffin let's go, we have to leave them." I say, tugging on his arm.

He looks at me, then back at Eilish, and reluctantly begins to tread away from her. I take the clover from my hair and place it in her hand gently.

"It will keep you safe." I whisper.

She manages a small smile and a tear rolls down her cheek.

I hug Storm as tightly as I can, and I hope that he remembers through all of this that I could never hurt him. I just need to trust that he himself will return the favour. He doesn't hug back; he just stares at Eilish with a pain so clear in his eyes.

This time we walk away and don't look back, our footsteps are heavy, causing the leaves to crackle underneath our feet. It doesn't matter though, there is no one near in sight and after Eilish has gone, we'll be the only alliance left. No one is going to challenge us.

"Where are we even going to go?" I ask.

"Back to where we always go." He says, obviously meaning the cave, our shelter.

He seems to have only just decided himself as he begins to veer to the left slightly, knowing the familiarity of these woods. We don't talk as we walk, I watch Griffin as he stumbles along, not looking at the floor, just focused on biting his nails.

A cannon.

We stop in our tracks, I look to see Griffin has torn half of his nail off in the last second, it spurts scarlet but I don't bother to mention it. All I can do is wonder if Storm could bring himself to stab Eilish, even if it meant she would suffer less, or if the poison got her.

"I can't even cry anymore." I say to Griffin, my voice emotionless.

"I never could. They don't let you at the training academy." He replies.

"Oh, I didn't know that."

He nods, now pretending that he is focusing on our route to avoid more small talk.

He could never cry? Around District 12 you would often see grown men weeping on the corner of streets, just in the hope that people will be sympathetic and possibly give them money or food.

We've had to try that before as well. My parents forbid us but Bluebell and I couldn't just sit and watch our family starve. Some days, instead of going to school, we would pick a small pot from the kitchen and walk the whole distance from our grubby house, all the way to the mayor's mansion.

We'd have to wake at 5 o'clock every morning to get to the mayor's house for 5.30, when he leaves for his work. He'd see us sitting outside of his garden and give us pitying looks.

"Where are your parents girls?" He'd ask and kneel beside us.

This was our chance to get his full sympathy, what's wrong with a tiny white lie if you're going to get food?

"We don't know." Bluebell would say, forcing a tear to drop.

"We're just so, so hungry." I would add, sucking in my stomach as far as it would go.

"You poor little sweethearts." Said the Mayor, before going inside and bringing us out two fresh loafs of bread. "Here you go. Now you can try to find your parents okay?"

"Thank you so much! How can we ever repay you?" Bluebell asks with a lisp.

"Don't be silly, it's my job to help my citizens."

And after that we left for home and slammed the bread on the table triumphantly. Mother would ask us where we had got them, and we lied, not very successfully, but she didn't question us.

"Pippa? Pippa can you hear that?" I shake my head and I'm back in reality, and had subconsciously wandered all the way to the clearing of the lake.

"Hear what?"

"The noise, listen." He replies, staying deadly silent.

I listen closely, and eventually I can hear a muffled sound, like the ticking of a clock. Or a timer.

"Yes I hear it, where is it coming from?"

"I don't know but…"

He is cut off by the deafening sound of an explosion. And it's happening right in front of our eyes. I see fire, lots of fire. And there are rocks flying towar-

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	26. Chapter 26

**Hi guys, i hope this was a quick enough update c:. I'm not very happy with this chapter but, oh well. If you have any confusions, just ask. And please review as well c:. Thanks!**

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I feel water, spread across my face. Am I alive? I must be alive, I must. Can I open my eyes?

I try to, and it feels like my eyelids are tearing apart when I can finally open them. The light blinds me for a second before I can make out the features of someone, but it's not the muddy brown haired, District 2 boy I was expecting to wake up to.

Leaning over me, holding a small patch of material covered in something, I'm not sure what, is Caspar.

He smiles as I wake up, taking the material away from my face, covered in blood. I immediately panic, touching my face even though my fingers feel like acid on my skin.

"You're alright; your skin will just need to heal a little." He says softly, dipping his fingers into a pot then applying some ointment just below my lips.

"Where's Griffin?" I say, my voice hoarse.

"Over there. I needed to tend to you first because, you know, you're from my district and all. I was worried about you." He replies, his cheeks turning pink.

I smile at him before crawling over to Griffin, my knees and elbows cracking. Even though I can't see myself, I can tell that he is in far worse condition.

"How long have I been out?" I question.

"Twelve hours or so I'd say, it's about midday now."

I nod, trying to process this information. "What even happened?"

"An explosion by the looks of it. I was heading to the lake for some water and I felt the floor shake. It wasn't a very big one, so they didn't want to kill you. They probably just wanted to keep you away from something." Caspar whispers, then pauses for a second. "I know you're going to ask why I didn't just kill you… I mean, you saved my life, so I needed to return the favour."

I smile and nod, but there is one thing I don't understand. "Why didn't you kill Griffin?" I ask, puzzled.

"Because I knew that if I killed him, you'd wake up and know that I had done it and, in turn, kill me." I nod. We stay in silence for a while before he talks again with bated breath. "So was it love at first sight?"

I wait a minute, trying to figure it out myself. "Yeah, I guess that's what it was." I'm finding it pretty hard to explain to myself what it was without it sounding so cliché, even in my own mind.

"I never believed in all of that. I don't think you can love him after this short amount of time. You just can't." He says certainly. He must have never found someone who has taken his breath away. "But I've thought of something." He says, his eyes shining.

I look to Griffin lying unconscious and helpless on the floor. "What is it?"

"What if this year they did it again."

"Did what?"

"A rule change. If they changed it so that two tributes from the same district can win again."

I laugh. "They would never do that. Not again, not after what happened before."

"But there is a tiny chance that they could, after seeing that there are two teams left, think about it Pippa." He replies, trying to take my hand. I immediately pull away. "It would be us versus him and the other girl. Do you really think he would stay with you then?" He says.

"Yes, I do!" I shout.

He shakes his head. "I bet he won't even remember you when he wakes up." He spits.

In that moment I hear a slight shuffle behind me to see Griffin open his eyes slowly and begin to flex his fingers. I scramble to where he lays and help him sit up.

And just like a curse, he utters the words "Who are you?"

"It's me, Pippa." I say, the panic obvious in my voice.

He stares for a moment, trying to figure out where he is and what is happening. That's when suddenly his pupils dilate and I can tell that he knows exactly why we're here.

For the Hunger Games.

He makes a strike for me with his hand, just connecting with my face, before holding his head in pain. I cup my cheek with my fingers, unable to believe that he just tried to hurt me.

"No, Griffin, we're allies okay! We're together!" I say in a rush.

He looks at me confusedly. "No, I was with… with…. Lexus." He says it just like that, and it feels like a stab through the stomach.

"No, no, no. You remember me! You do, don't play a trick on me." I laugh.

He looks at me and then to the ground and frowns. "I don't know, maybe, but."

"Yes because we saw each other on the rooftop, and that was about two weeks ago, maybe less, maybe more I don't know. And then we came in here and you saved me and you put me in a tree. And we found each other and stayed with each other." He seems to be listening. I then point at Caspar. "Then he told me that there was an explosion and both of us were in it, but we're okay. You just forgot."

He looks around at the trees and the fragments of rocks scattered around where we're sat. Then he looks to the lake, it's no longer a lake thought, it's just a huge pit of dirt.

"I'm sorry. I don't."

Tears fill in my eyes but I mustn't cry. Instead I turn to Caspar.

"You did this didn't you?! It was you, Katniss and Peeta must have sent you some drugs to give to him." I think this through. "Of course. You must somehow believe that if I don't remember him I'll just give up and kill him. Then we'll somehow get through this and I'll trust you then when we're in the last two you'll slaughter me."

Caspar's eyes widen. "No. I- I didn't do that. It's a stupid, spineless plan." He stutters.

"That sounds just like you." I spit.

"Well I'm staying with you anyway. He's mad; he doesn't know who you are. He would do anything. I'm trying to protect you. Can't you see that?"

"I don't need your protection! I got this far without you!" I yell.

I pick up a dirty bit of bread beside me and rip it with my teeth, chewing it even though it tastes like mud.

"Fine! You're on your own!" He shouts back, packing up his pack and struggling to his feet. "I hope Lexus kills both of you!"

Those words make the bread I've just ingested immediately churn in my stomach. What if I am all alone?

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	27. Chapter 27

**Hey guys! Sorry for the late update, I couldn't think of what to write for this filler chapter. Thank you for all of the reviews and follows, it's lovely of you all c:.**

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"Now what?" I hear Griffin say behind me, still unable to sit up by himself.

I dither for a moment, before replying. "I'm going to make you remember me." He looks at me worriedly. "But first, I need to know what you remember about yourself."

I must sound like some sort of counsellor, I bet the Capitol are falling out of their seats laughing at how 'unfortunate' this is.

"What's your name?" I ask simply.

He sniggers in the way that he always has. "Do you really think I have forgotten that much? My name is Griffin Lockhearst."

"Good. How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

So far so good. I'm going to have to try more recent memories now, to see if that is the only thing affected.

"What's my name?" I ask, gnawing on my lip in anticipation.

"You told me, it's Pippa." He says slowly.

"And my last name?"

He frowns to himself; I can tell that he is trying so hard to remember. In the end, he shrugs his shoulders in defeat.

"It's okay." I say softly. "You just need to know that I won't kill you. And in return, you won't kill me okay?"

He hesitates but eventually nods his head. He holds out his hand and for a moment I think he wants to hold mine, before he grasps my hand and gives it a tight shake. I get to work on sorting his wounds. Unluckily all traces of the lake have gone due to the explosion so I end up having to use the remains of my water bottle to clean the cuts on his body.

"How many people are left?" He asks.

I count the names on my fingers. "Five."

"And who are they?"

"Me, you, Caspar – the boy who just went, Lexus and Storm. Do you remember Storm?"

He shakes his head. At least I'm not the only one who's slipped his memory.

"How did we get into this mess?" Griffin questions, flinching as I disinfect his face.

"Ask President Snow." I say coldly, even though I know how dangerous that is.

We sit in silence for a while until I see my knife lying on the ground not too far away. I crawl over to it and pick it up. Part of the blade has chipped off in the middle, but all in all it's not too bad.

"Don't go getting any ideas." Griffin says defensively, his eyes looking at me warily.

"I'll get you your sword." I say quietly, ignoring him.

I attempt to get up onto my feet, my leg muscles straining every inch I raise. I fall down. Again and again. I am attempting the fifth time when I feel Griffin's large, warm hand on my back helping to push me up, sending ripples through my spine.

"Thanks." I say with a smile.

"It's fine." He says, not returning it.

I stagger around for a bit before I'm able to walk properly, my legs wobbling. Right now we're surely easy targets, but this arena is huge so the odds of them not finding us _are _in our favour. For once.

Eventually I'm able to find Griffin's sword and there isn't even a scratch on it. I suppose he had the time at the Cornucopia to pick whichever one he wished.

When I think back and remember that Griffin used to be a Career, the thought almost ceases to exist in my imagination. To compare him to the likes of former careers, like the boy from two years ago; what was his name… Cato. He and Griffin are the complete opposite yet their families thought they were both destined for the same thing. Maybe Griffin is still going to win, but it still feels so, so different.

"Here's your sword."

He snatches it from my hand and glides his fingers along the pristine metal. I pick up the remains of the bread and rip it in half, giving the larger bit to Griffin. We sit and eat in silence, only the chirps of the Mockingjay's providing a sound.

The sun is already beginning to drop in the sky. I know what this means. The shorter the days, the sooner the end.

I root through my charcoaled pack and find the sleeping bag. I lay it on the floor and clamber in, the inner warmth hitting me straight away.

"You can get in as well if you like? There's enough room." I say, almost pleadingly.

"No, I prefer the air on my body." He mumbles.

He lies down relatively close to me, his head propped up against a tree to use as a pillow.

After the sun has set completely and I can only see him by the glow of the moon, I can see Griffin shivering. The air coming out of his mouth is misty. I decide to 'subtly' move over to him, he could take up on my offer of the sleeping bag right? He wouldn't want to freeze to death.

As soon as I reach him he shuffles away, managing to get up and walk to the next tree. So I stay.

Hours must have gone by since I've been lying here. And I can feel his eyes watching me. As if, he can't trust me. After a while I can hear heavy breaths coming from his mouth, his body curled in a ball to preserve heat.

Only a day has past where he doesn't know me, yet it feels like he never knew me at all.

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**Sorry for the boring chapter! I'll update a lot sooner for the next one, where some actual action will happen!**

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	28. Chapter 28

**Hey guys! I've actually updated quickly this time! And this chapter has a lot of action, maybe it's a bit too quick. I don't know. Please give me your opinions because I appreciate every review I get so much! c: Thank you for the follows as well!**

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"Keep running!" Griffin coughs a few paces in front of me.

"I am!" I scream at him.

I keep my hands on my head, the only thing shielding it from the huge flames that rain from the sky. The trees surrounding us are burning, bright sparks flying from them. The sky is a bright red colour as flames drip from it like a tap. Branches fall, almost crushing us.

"Watch out!" I shriek at Griffin as a flame is aimed directly at his head.

He veers off to the right, the flame just catching his arm, making him curse loudly. It's not even sunrise yet but the glow of fire lights up the sky.

The flames came without warning, an awful burning smell waking us from our light slumber. We barely had time to react before we were up on our feet, running for our lives.

"Wait for me!" I see that he is slowly slipping further and further away from me. I try to grab for his hand but he pulls it away from me, running even faster.

The flames are falling faster now, and they're larger, like meteors.

And I'm still running, as fast as I can so I can stay with Griffin. To make sure he's safe. I don't even know where we are. We're out of the forest now in a clearing, meaning we're in even more danger from the flames. And then I see it.

"Griffin! There's a waterfall!" I veer off to the left, using what's left of my energy to sprint to the waterfall. He's not far behind me – catching up with every step.

Just as a flame buries into my shoulder, we're there under the cool fall of water pounding against us. Behind it is a small ledge, the waterfall shielding us from the outside but we can still see everything. A lucky escape.

"Is your arm okay?" I say softly.

"It's fine, and I didn't need your help," he hisses. "I knew what I was doing."

"Maybe you should cool it off in the water."

"I said I don't need your help!" He shouts, picking up his sword from the small belt he got from sponsors in the middle of the night. They must've known what was about to happen.

"Griffin, what are you doing?" I whimper.

"I'm not going to win if you're here, am I?" He growls.

He rests his knife on my throat, ready to slit it. I can see in his eyes that he's lost, driven by the thought of winning. Of becoming a victor. Just before he is about to cut my throat I see a huge ray of light coming towards us.

"Fire." I whisper before rolling me and Griffin off the ledge and into the water, just as the flames impact the rock walls.

I finally reach the surface of the water, spluttering and choking the water up from my lungs. As soon as I am able to breathe properly, I run. Not even looking back I run from Griffin because he wouldn't miss the next time.

The fire has stopped falling now. I wonder why though. No one has died.

I keep running until I find the tree in which I found shelter on the first day of the Games. The shelter that Griffin made for me. The bark to cover me has gone, but I improvise with branches, taking as many as I can and pulling them on top of me.

I lie for a bit, still breathing heavily, and realise that I have no knife. No weapon to defend myself. I'm on my own now; I'm going to need one.

I pull the branches off of me a silently as possible and stand in the smoky air.

I look up to the sky and whisper "Help me."

No response.

"Please," I say again. "Katniss? Peeta?"

They never usually take this long, as soon as I ask; they normally send me what I need straight away. There must be something else happening, something more important than this.

I sit on my own for hours, daydreaming about the food my stomach craves so much. It's the only thing in my mind that overrides the thought _why is this happening to me? _

Why me of all people? What have I done to deserve this? What have I done to be thrown into this arena, having to fight to death with my friends that I've stupidly made? I've been too trusting, and the rest of them have been too naïve.

I am jolted by the sound of a cannon. I freeze for a moment, my eyes transfixed on the part of the sky I heard the cannon from.

I can't help but think that it could be him. The fire hit his arm, what if it burnt through? Hit a vital vein and he had been lying there dying for hours and hours and I just left him.

I suddenly have to lean down, my stomach throwing up the food I have eaten in the past few days. _Great. _I see that the animals are back though, small ones. They're shoving in my face as I have no way to kill them. They said there wouldn't be any more food? Another bluff from the Gamemakers.

A grey fog covers the Sun. I prepare myself for the worst and cover myself in branches in the trunk of the tree. As I am about to brace myself I unexpectedly hear the sound of the Capitol anthem.

Slowly I push the leaves away from my body and look up into the sky. The Capitol seal shines brightly. They obviously couldn't wait until tonight to show us who's dead.

I clench my stomach as the words 'The Fallen' is projected into the sky.

When his name shows in the sky all of the wind is knocked out of my body, I end up clutching my throat and forcing myself to breathe. My body springs into a fit, tears falling from my face, my nose dripping.

It's all my fault.

If I'd stayed with him, maybe he wouldn't be dead. If I had just stopped being the bitch I always am, maybe he'd still be alive.

I lie on the ground, still sobbing as I watch the projection disappear.

The number twelve slowly fades from the sky, and so does Caspar's face. The last time I'll ever see it.

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	29. Chapter 29

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the wait but I needed to make this chapter as good as possible! It's also quite a bit longer than the normal ones so I hope you forgive me haha! Thank you for all of the reviews, I love reading every single one. I hope you all like this, it took a lot of work haha. :-)**

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I woke up this morning feeling the worse I ever had. I can't do this anymore. I haven't eaten properly in days and my stomach is screaming for food. I can honestly say that my mind has never felt so numb.

I slowly crawl out of the tree, the morning sun blinding my eyes. As I push the branches out the way, the palm of my hand catches on something hard. I suck the blood dripping from the wound while I search for whatever inflicted it on me.

I search through the branches before I find a parachute with the number '12' on it. It takes all of the strength I have left just to open the lid off of the large box. It eases open and I root through the contents.

I find two sharp knives, the edges smooth and the metal glistens. There also lays an apple, dark red like something out of a fairy-tale. It's obviously from the Capitol.

I take the apple out and immediately bite huge chunks out of it. I find relief as the juice slides down my throat.

The final thing in the box confuses me. It's an oval shaped dome with a clasp; which looks slightly like the compact mirrors that they carry in the Capitol. I turn it over to find a note taped to the back. 'Find him, this will only play once and then it's over. Maybe this will jog his memory. – P'

Does it cost money from the sponsors to print words? Why give me so little information? I'm assuming 'him' is Griffin, but if I find him he'll kill me. Literally.

"Thank you." I say to nowhere in particular.

I finish my apple, eating all the way to the core. I pick up my knives, one in each hand and begin walking.

For the first time in what feels like an age I keep alert. I don't have anyone to protect me now. I need to get back into focus. I need to be like I was in my private training.

My heart starts beating fast. What if on the way to find him Lexus gets me? Or even Storm? What if when I find him he kills me before I even have a chance to show him whatever is sealed inside that compact?

I put my knives into one hand and take the compact out of the sleeve of my suit. The metal is cool to touch, and I stroke the smooth metal. It's so, so tempting to open. But as soon as I go to unclip the lid I hear a rustle.

I immediately drop my body, making sure I'm close to the ground. Silently I slip the compact in my sleeve and hold both of the knives in my hands. I go to the nearest tree and go as close to it as possible, while still being able to view what's happening.

I poke my head around the tree and see the back of someone's head. Good, they're facing away from me. I close my eyes and breathe slowly. _If you get a good hit, they're down; you have one less person to worry about. _I think to myself.

Slowly I inch away from the tree, holding the knives so tightly that I think my knuckles could burst through my skin at any moment. I continue edging out until my feet snap a twig. Loudly.

I take my eyes off the floor and look up, just in time to see a small dart fly towards me. And another. And another.

I can feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. My mind quickly goes into overload as it processes as quickly as possible how to avoid them. All of this happens so quickly as I throw myself back onto the ground.

The darts whip past as I land on the floor. One hits a nearby tree and the other two are still flying into the forest.

As I watch them I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder. I tell myself not to look, to stay aware that there could be more to come, but I can't. I turn my eyes to my shoulder to see a huge dart has pierced through it.

"Great aim!" I shout into the trees as I pull the dart out with one swift movement. There is no poison dripping off them, just a hole near my collarbone dripping with blood.

Footsteps come towards me, heavy ones. As soon as the owner of these loud thuds comes through the clearing I can see who it is.

The person who threw the darts, at me.

I think anyone would be able to guess; Griffin of course.

I scrabble into my sleeve to find the compact I almost wasted on myself, as he comes closer and closer, walking menacingly slow.

I manage to struggle to my feet, both of my knives in one hand by my side; showing him that I have no intent to use them unless he is stupid enough to do something to me.

"Where's your sword?" I ask, not mockingly, not in any way taunting him. Yet he still spits his words at me.

"The waterfall; after _you_ left. I got nothing but those measly darts."

"If you stay with me, you ca- you can listen to this." Griffin shoots backwards protectively as I pull the compact smoothly out of my right sleeve.

"No. No. This is a trick!" He says confusedly, picking me up from the ground with his grubby hands.

"Griffin, you have to trust me! Please." I cry, and a slight recognition crosses his eyes.

"Okay; only if you give me one of your knives. So I can defend myself." He smirks, thinking that he's got the upper hand on the situation; that he's outsmarted me.

"Fine. Yep. Sure." I reply, and I hand the knife over. He looks utterly confused, but he doesn't try anything.

Shakily I open the clasp and open up the compact. For a moment nothing happens, it remains blank, a small grey light slightly glowing.

"I knew it!" Griffin shouts, raising his knife in his hand.

Then, suddenly a small projection appears out of the compact, large enough for both of us to see. Griffin looks at it curiously, subconsciously putting his knife back down his side.

I watch this projection with wide eyes, as it begins to play some sort of video.

There are two people lying down next to each other, they're talking softly to each other. It takes a few moments before I realise it. It's us. Together. In the cave, when we exchanged our most loving words, when Griffin talked about his district, his father.

I turn to him to see his eyes gazing at the screen, seemingly mesmerised.

I begin watching it. I can tell why the Capitol love this kind of thing. It just seems so genuine from both of us.

_Exactly. And do you know what he will be saying right now?_ The video repeats Griffin's voice, it sounds slightly magnetic, but it's still clearly him. _He'll be telling me to kill you, before it's too late, before I love you too much._

_Kill me then._ I hear myself reply, I look so different to how I remember myself, my filthy skin, tangled hair and my eyes even look a different colour.

I hold my breath as I hear the next bit. I replay it so much in my head that I can mouth the words along with it.

_No Pippa. It is too late. I already love you so much, I can hardly stand it. I don't want to be like him. I don't want to be driven so insane that I would just kill you._

That's when it happens. The kiss, I mean. It looks so innocent and sweet in the circumstances. Then Griffin raises his head, the camera angle perfect to capture all of his features.

_We're going to make it through this together. I promise._

After those final words are uttered, and you can see the genuine look of love in his eyes, the projection stops.

Quicker than a blink, the compact disintegrates into silver metallic dust in the palm of my hand.

I look up to Griffin nervously.

"It's you isn't it? You're the girl in there with me." He says with so much hope channelled into his voice.

"Yes, it's me, it's me." I whisper back.

"Where the hell did you go?" He asks rhetorically, encasing me in a hug so tightly that I can't breathe for a few seconds.

He's back. He's finally back.

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	30. Chapter 30

**HEY GUYS! I'm sorry it's been so long but I am finally updating. I will make sure I update far quicker from now on. I'm also sorry this chapter is so rushed and rubbish but the real action comes next chapter! Thank you for the wonderful reviews and thank you for sticking with the story! :-)**

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"I guess I've been in the back of your mind," I laugh, sounding like an idiot.

"You're Pippa Mayflower and you live in District 12 and you have a mother, father and two sisters. Your district partner is Caspar,"

"Was." I reply guiltily.

"Oh, yeah."

We stay in a solemn silence for a few seconds and I hope that Caspar's family at home will understand my respect for them.

"You like plums, they're your favourite. And so am I."

"Correct. You are certainly my favourite." I laugh. "Anyway, there are four of us left. You remember that right?"

"Yeah…" He has an intense look of concentration on his face. "Do we hunt, or wait to be hunted?"

"What do you think?"

"Hunt. You?"

"Be hunted."

We stand still for a while, our knives just hanging in our hands. We slowly slip our free hands into each other's.

Griffin suddenly speaks. "Okay, what about this. We start hunting tomorrow. It's getting dark already and in the night one of the others might start hunting for us. So we both win." He smiles, and then adds. "Well, unless we die."

You can tell by his face that he immediately regrets those words, and starts rubbing the lump on his head.

"Okay, yeah. Great. Sounds like a plan." I stutter. I pause for a while, and before I even realise, I'm shouting. "I just want something to happen! Right now Griffin! I just want it to be over!"

I could feel my body suddenly fill up with such rage as if it was burning up inside of me, I could feel physical pain coursing through my blood. As soon as I had shouted, birds took off from the trees, great flocks of them all at once.

I couldn't help myself when I hurled my knife into the air, almost in slow motion, as if every feather falling was my sanity and it was deteriorating, just like the eagle when it fell to the ground with a huge thud.

I stood in silence for a moment, my fingers curling up in my hand, my long dirty nails denting my skin.

"Pippa,"

I shook my head vigorously, knowing that if I said a single word I would burst into tears.

I stroked the majestic creature's soft body with my fingertips. Griffin shuffled awkwardly behind me, unsure whether to speak or stay silent. Before the explosion he would know exactly what to say to me, but part of him has just disappeared.

I stand for a while, scraping bark off the tree next to me, my fingertips feel leathery and my arms throb after every scrape. The deep scar on my wrist catches the light and my brain scans through the long list of pains in my body, confused on how I'm not dead yet.

"It's funny," I choke. "I can murder a person and just walk away. Yet, I've been next to this bird for minutes."

"No one expects you to feel emotion for people who were trying to kill you."

"Yeah, well, people back at home would still class me as insane."

"I don't." He said, looking up at me.

"They'd probably say you are too."

"Who cares? We're going to win, go home, and then all of this will be over."

I half laugh. "You know, you're incredibly naïve for someone that's killed so many people."

"What?" He replies irritably.

"You think that if we get out of here, we're safe and everything's going to be fine. It won't be. Even if we do get out of here, you of all people should know that these games never end."

He stares blankly at me, blinking rapidly. "Yeah. You're right. But it's better to be alive and damaged than not alive at all."

"That's a matter of opinion." I reply, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He tickles my chin, tilting my head up to kiss him. I can feel goosebumps on his neck under my light touch.

"No," I say breathlessly.

"Be quiet, enjoy it while you can." Griffin whispers back.

He slams his mouth against mine, pinning me to a nearby tree while doing so while I struggle in his grasp. He puts his arms on either side of me, restricting my movement. I can hear the shuffle of his feet, moving so close that I feel suffocated.

His hands start at my waist and begin roaming up my body. His tongue forces its way into my mouth, its taste metallic and grimy.

"Griffin, stop," I say behind the force of his mouth.

His hands are grabbing at the upper part of my body suit, his strength beginning to rip it, exposing my bare skin down to my collarbones. I feel… dirty. My whole district can see this; the whole of the Capitol can watch me struggle.

"Stop!" I scream, pushing him off me and wrapping my arms around my body defensively.

"I thought that was what you wanted!" He shouts back, wiping his mouth.

"What on earth would make you think that? What has happened to you? I would never say that you were gentle, but you would never do something like that to me. I feel disgusting now, with your disgusting fingerprints on my skin." I spit, turning around and beginning to walk. "I'm going to the river. Feel free to stab me in the back as I walk."

I stumble over to the decomposing eagle and manage to tug the knife out of its chest before carrying on walking, the cold air biting on my bare skin.

"I didn't mean it, you know I didn't. It was just… miscommunication. Yeah. I thought you'd want to grab the opportunity while you could, in case we don't make it."

"So you think I want to have sex with you, here? Where someone could just come up to us and slit our throats?"

He shuffles uncomfortably, his cheeks flushing red with a mix of embarrassment and guilt.

"No. I just thought you'd… I don't know. Forget it ever happened."

I ignore him. "Where is the damn river?" I look up to the sky and laugh. "Sorry Capitol! Looks like you won't get your great showdown. We'll be dead by then. Wasn't very smart to blow up the water supplies, was it?" I take my water bottle out of my pack, gulp down the last drops then slam it down on the floor. "It'll be pretty boring if we just die here, won't it?"

"There's always the lake at the Cornucopia." Griffin mumbled behind me. "Where Lexus will be."

Of course.

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	31. Chapter 31

The night passed with little slumber. I suppose it was because I couldn't trust him anymore. Even thinking it right now; connecting Griffin with fear, it would've seemed stupid just two days ago. I flinched at every move he made and every slight rustle of his jacket while he kept watch.

We had trekked half the night down towards the Cornucopia, but decided until we'd wait till today; right now, before we found Lexus.

We're right here now, ready for her, knives in hand. I feel so sick just waiting for the possible end of one of our lives.  
"I'll protect you no matter what okay. Don't worry about me, just check your own surroundings." Griffin says cautiously. Even though the explosion messed up a part of him, I feel slightly safer now I know that he'll still do anything to protect me.

"What if you get hurt, then what?" I reply.

"Leave me, run." He says, changing his stance defensively against the forest.

"As if I'd ever do that."

We stand back to back, watching both forests carefully. I watch the red and Griffin watches the green. It's eerily silent. Only the whistle of the grass against the harsh wind keeps us company.

How many weapons could she have? Griffin isn't getting any parachutes so have they saved them all for her? What would be their motive? And then there's Storm as well. I haven't caught a glance of him in days, I have no idea what sort of state he could be in, Lexus would find him an easy target now he has no allies.

As if my thoughts had somehow become a reality, in the distance I saw two figures just at the entrance of the red forest; one running towards us.

"Griffin, Griffin turn around!" I shout as the figure comes closer; and I see that, of course, it isn't Storm, it's Lexus.

As she sprints over, I see Storm with a bow and arrow, aiming at her back. I clench my fists and don't move incase she moves direction, meaning the arrow would miss.

"Pippa let's move. Now!"

"Wait. He's about to shoot." I scream back as she is menacingly close, knives in hand.

Storm pulls back on the bowstring and lets go, the arrow flying so quietly that you could barely hear it coursing through the air. It lands a few metres short, and Lexus is so close, baring her teeth like some sort of animal.

Before I can even react she throws two knives simultaneously, her aim towards Griffin.

"Griffin!" I screech.

His eyes widen with fear and slams himself into the ground, narrowly avoiding the knives that fly past. He bites his lip from the pain of the hard ground, squeezing his eyelids tightly shut. But he's okay, he's okay, he's not dead.

He opens his eyes slowly, before blinking rapidly, his mouth moving but only able to scream the word 'Pippa' and pointing behind me.

I clasp my knife and turn my feet to face her.

I can't feel anything accept the cold edge of the metal just beneath my collarbone.

But now I do, I feel my eyes rolling backwards, the sunlight dipping from my sight and my back on the ground. I can smell the dirt and feel it in my shaking fingertips but I'm okay. I'm getting up.

No. I'm not. I'm being lifted.

I struggle to open my eyes. It feels like when you have a nightmare and the back of your mind is telling you_ open your eyes, you are in control of your body, do it_ but you are consciously unable. Without warning they now snap open, and he's got me in his arms. I crane my neck to the left and see Lexus on the ground with a slash down her leg. Not a big one. But it's there, and it's stopping her.

"Now listen to me, Pippa you have to stay awake when I do this. Do you understand?" I manage to mumble a response, the pain has now began searing through my upper body. "I'm going to take the knife out, okay? It's just above your chest but you won't die, we'll figure something out."

He sharply grabs the knife, jolting my body and forcing me to let out a sharp moan of pain. As quickly as it took him to grab onto the knife, he's pulled it out, and blood drips off it.

He continues trying to reassure me as he rips off a piece of material from his sleeve and applies pressure on my wound. "It didn't go very deep, if we keep applying pressure the bleeding will stop and you'll be fine."

"Okay." I struggle to say with wheezing breath.

He slowly puts me the the ground, lying me down on my side, my right leg lifted in front of me. "Hold it on with your right hand, I need to finish her off."

As he turns away I turn up the corner of the cloth, which is a deep scarlet. _Don't look again _I say to myself.

I manage to keep my eyes open through the haze of consciousness and see Lexus a few yards away, rubbing at her bloody leg. She doesn't wince in pain once, just gets on with it, she isn't going to give up easily. That's how all of the Careers are trained: don't show them you're hurt, don't show them you're scared, and most importantly - don't show emotion.

Griffin storms over to her, baring his heavy sword above his head.

"You wouldn't dare." Lexus spits. She tries to strike him weakly, grimacing through the pain.

"Oh, I would." He growls, his sword coming down towards her. She dodges it surprisingly quick, given the state she is in.

Lexus throws a knife vaguely in his direction, but it goes straight past, not nearly hitting him.

"Griffin please, okay now I'm begging you. Don't do this, you'll regret it!" She says, mustering up as much sympathy in her voice as possible.

"I'll regret it?" He shouts.

"You love me, and I love you. That's how it's always been." Lexus says in a panicky tone. Almost as if she realises how pathetic she sounds her face changes to a smirk. "Well, you love me. It's pretty pathetic actually, you trying to defend her. Pretending all this time when really; all you've ever wanted is me."

Griffin laughs mercilessly and you can see fear flash through her eyes as Griffin drives the sword downwards. Lexus tries to dodge it once more, rolling onto her back. The sword strikes through the top of her back before Griffin rips it out, Lexus' throat giving a gasp.

"You - you don't understand. I was about to tell you if - if you spared me one minute longer." She stutters, her body twitching. "You idiot! You don't understand do you?!" She screams to the best of her ability.

"What?" Griffin replied worriedly.

Her mouth lets out tiny gasps of air and finally utters. "I'm pregnant."

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**Hey guys! I'm awfully sorry for not updating quickly but I have so much revision and I haven't really had time! I hope this chapter had enough action and shocked you a bit! PLEAASSSEEE tell me your opinions on this chapter, it's the most important one yet! Thank you for all of the lovely reviews and thank you for the follows, love you guys c:**


	32. Chapter 32

"No. No, y-you can't be. It was-"

"Three months." She replies, cutting him off, her voice sharp with pain.

"No. Lexus. You would have told me. You're lying! Trying to get back at me!" He screams in her face.

She laughs slightly, her eyes watering. "Well I'm almost gone, even if that knife didn't go in as far as you liked." A tear falls down her face.

"You know, you're not strong Griffin, you never have been."

He ignores her small outburst. "You still haven't told me. Why did you never say?"

"I was going to wait. We'd be here, I'd tell you and all the cameras would have been on us. They wouldn't rip apart a family." She splutters blood onto the ground. "All three of us could've got out! You didn't give me time. You left me, for that!" She points a shaking finger at me.

Lexus rolls onto her back and closes her eyes lightly, slowly moving her hands to rest on her stomach. Her breathing is heavy. "I got one of those scans, Griffin. Just before we got in here. My parents paid a lot of money for it. The Capitol people did it for me. Just before the chariot rides. They cried and said it was a shame. I didn't cry Griffin. Not one bit."

"Don't." He whispers. "Please."

"I could see it. It was there." Her voice rises to a high pitch. "I didn't even know if it was a boy or girl!"

And with that, her body sunk flat to the ground.

A cannon sounds. The echo of it hammering through the silent wind. I clamber to my hands and knees, letting the cloth drop from my skin.

Eventually I am able to crawl over to Griffin; his face is buried into his knees, his body shaking. I slowly turn my head to Lexus' body, as she lies flat I can see, as haunting as it is, the tiny curvature of her stomach. The baby in there dead because of me.

Griffin breaks the silence, I can hear a tremor in his voice. "In answer to your question that you're surely about to ask: We weren't 'lovers' or whatever. It happened twice. No reason other than me being an idiot and not thinking of the consequences."

"You can't blame yourself for this."

He looks up from his knees, deep into my eyes. "Really? I can't blame myself? Maybe I should blame you then. You're the reason why my baby is dead! If you never spoke to me in training, then maybe I would never had thought about you that way. Maybe... I don't know." As soon as he said it he ducked his head in shame. I put my hand on his shoulder. My collarbone was hurting more and more as I sat there. I looked down to my chest to see a new flow of blood had dripped all the way down to my stomach. But it didn't feel like it mattered.

Who do I have to look after other than myself? I don't have a person inside of me that can be so easily destroyed as it is to destroy me.

"You need to find an otto plant. It will clot the blood flow and stop you losing so much." Griffin said into his hands.

"Oh. Okay. Have you seen one?"

"No. That's why it's a problem. But we need to stop it; I can't lose three people in one day Pippa, I just can't."

"I'm going to go into the woods and I'm going to find one." I say slowly. "Griffin you need to go, they have to take her now. Come with me."

"Leave me for one minute." He said, his voice a mix of sorrow and demand. I get up onto my feet, using my opposite arm to push myself up. I do feel weak, that's given; but the realisation that it's almost over keeps me going.

I crash my way through the trees; Griffin had instructed me to find a small plant with purple leaves and blue petals, and to squeeze the sap onto my wound. I can hear the Mockingjay's chirping their songs joyfully; they hadn't seen what had just gone on.

"Purple leaves, blue petals. Purple leaves, blue petals." I repeated to myself to take my mind off the pain.

It had certainly been more than a minute, with the agony each step felt like hours. "Katniss help me. Please."

Nothing.

I'd looked at these plants in training. I'd paid extra attention. Where do you find them?

Nightlock, black, found near the roots of trees in which they suck the nutrients out of. Poison Root, a bright green colour that spits venom if you get too close, found in high altitudes. Why could I only remember the plants to avoid, not to find?

Wait. An otto plant, grows amongst fungi that would be found in damp logs or tree trunks. Got it.

I scan the forest for logs. My feet crunch on the orange leaves as I make my way deeper into the forest. As I go further, the crunch lessens into a sort of squelch noise. My boots are damp; it has obviously rained.

My eyes finally find a small log, just as the pain is getting unbearable. And right next to it, amongst the fungi, is an otto plant. I gently pluck it from the ground, where the leaves immediately go brown. I pull the material of my bodysuit down and squeeze the sap onto my wound. It have to bite my lips to not scream. It feels as if it's burning through my skin.

When the pain eases, I pick two more and shove them up my sleeve for possible later use.

The sun is beginning to set, so I begin running. This must be the finale about to start, I can't leave Griffin on his own so vulnerable. I sprint through the forest, managing to dodge branches and roots. I stop for a moment as the Capitol anthem sounds and Lexus' evil grin lights up the sky. Then, as I think the sky will go dark and I can resume running, Snow's face takes up the projection.

"With deep sympathy and regret, I also bid farewell to the unborn child that our female District 2 tribute carried." With a small nod of his head, the projection stopped and the sky was immediately pitch black.

He wouldn't even say her name.

My body feels heavy from exhaustion by now as I drag myself closer to Griffin, although I cannot yet see the opening. I pull across some branches and am finally there to see Griffin still sitting in the exact same position as he was. I can feel my eyes prick and are misted by tears that I will not allow to fall.

Through the mist I suddenly see a huge shoot of blue light coming from the red forest, followed by a sickeningly loud screech. But the screech wasn't from a human.

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**I updated asap, I hope it wasn't too long a wait! I quite like this chapter, but I have no idea what you guys will think! Thank you for the follows and reviews I appreciate every one. If you could tell me your opinions on this chapter that'd be fab! c: IT'S ALMOST FINISHED, but don't worry I'll be doing post games chapters as well! Thanks guys!**

**Also, if any of you guys like Harry Potter fanfics, my friend has started to write one, it's really good and he'd love if you guys looked at it and gave your opinion. Plus, he updates waaaaaaay quicker than I do hahaha, his user name is BloodPixie140 and it's his first story, thanks guys**!


	33. Chapter 33

**Hey guys I just thought I'd give you a small update on Storm before this chapter goes ahead on his whereabouts since he was last mentioned**_. So, after Eilish had died Storm was petrified, he was all on his own and didn't have protection. He spent most of his nights without sleep; too scared of Lexus and whoever else could hurt him. Eventually the Gamemakers decided to move him closer to Lexus and so set up an actual storm to move him. (This is why in a previous chapter Pippa sees that trees are burnt down - hit by lightning.) This all happened roughly the same time as Caspar's death, but within the red forest, not the green. Storm and Lexus had a brief encounter, where Lexus attempted to strangle Storm, causing his breathing to be far more difficult after. Storm thought about Pippa often, and always hoped she would not be killed, and that she would finally murder Griffin so she has more of a chance herself. He never once attempted to hunt Pippa or Griffin, and was secretly too afraid to hunt Lexus as he was aware of how much stronger and well equipt she was. He did not receive a single parachute. _**I hope this has kind of helped to now set up the scene, please tell me what you think of this little paragraph, thank you.**

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I pick up my feet, running the full speed I can to the Cornucopia; where Griffin is still sitting.

"Get up Griffin, run!" I scream, attempting to pull him up.

"Let's just sit and wait, this is the end." He says quietly.

I think for a moment, my eyes fixed on the source of the sound. I realise that Lexus' body is gone, but Griffin's sword is still stained with her blood.

"Come on, please Griffin. You can't zone out now; not after everything we've been through. Please." I say pleadingly.

Just as I finish speaking I see Storm tear through the forest onto the open plain, his arms swinging wildly as he sprints. Griffin automatically gets up and stands in a wide, defensive stance.

Storm is a few feet away when suddenly another shriek pierces the cool air; followed by a huge creature rocketing out of the red forest.

I watch the creature as it sets off towards us, only the giant full moon giving the sky light. It's a bird, and it's wings beat up and down gracefully. I look at the colour, from what I can tell, blue. As the bird elongates it's wings I can tell what the Gamemakers have done. Take the one thing I loved from home and make it destroy me.

Of course it's an eagle.

"Get into the horn of the Cornucopia, now!" Griffin shouts, his voice powerful and authoritative.

All three of us sprint to the left, Storm coughing and spluttering, his pace slowing down. The bird tilts it's wings, tracking our movements before it lets off another shriek. It's pitch almost stops the function of my brain, causing my legs to collapse on themselves.

No quicker than I could feel myself fall, I can feel Griffin and Storm's hands pick me up swiftly from the floor.

We begin sprinting again, Storm lagging slightly behind.

"Come on!" I scream behind me. He looks at me, a gloss of tears in his eyes. "Don't let them kill you like they killed your Eilish!"

He slows for a second, realising the words I had just said and picks up his feet.

But we're too far ahead, and within a few more steps I feel a chilling wind on my back before I turn and see the creature blowing some sort of blue mist on Storm. He just stands there, his body trembling before I run and body slam him out of the birds reach.

I can feel my skin almost burning just from that half a second I was within its presence. I look to my skin to see a layer of crisp ice covering my left arm, almost as if I had frost bite.

I move my eyes to Storm to see his whole upper body, including his face, a deep blue colour. He's shaking, becoming hypothermic.

"Right get up, we'll get you to shelter." I shout in his ear. I hear the shriek of the bird, then see it's coming back. "Griffin, help me here!"

No reply, I turn and see Griffin running towards the eagle, sword raised.  
"Griffin don't! Please!" I scream, my voice cracking. He doesn't even slow, before he stabs the birds wing with his sword. It screeches with pain, causing Griffin to fall to his knees, his hands clasped tightly over his ears.

"We still need to move, I say to Storm." I pull him up to a sitting position, all of his upper body crunching as I force it from the ground.

I help him up to his feet and practically drag him along towards the Cornucopia. Why am I helping him and not Griffin?

"I'm cold." He whispers.

"No you're not; you're fine." I reply through gritted teeth. By now my arm feels like it's freezing through so I can only imagine what Storm must feel like.

I finally help Storm into the horn, his feet resting on the ridge of the metal. Behind me the bird shrieks continually.

"I'm going to go and help Griffin now okay, don't move." I say, ripping off a large piece of material from the leg of my body suit and handing it to him. "Keep your body covered."

He managed to muster a smile and croak, "I'm feeling better already."

I quickly rush out of the Cornucopia and sprint towards Griffin, where he is now laid out flat on the floor, still trying to battle the eagle as it swipes its huge talons at his body. As I'm almost there the bird breathes the blue mist right onto him, making him cower in pain, his mouth throwing out a huge yelp, not at all like his voice.

I've never seen him this bad, and as I get to him I see the corners of his mouth have been ripped open by the tallons, looking like a huge bloody grimace. His eyes watered and his eyelashes had huge beads of frozen water weighing them down. The breath of mist on him was nowhere near as damaging as Storm's but his other injuries were much, much worse.

Just seeing him like this made me feel completely enraged. I took a knife from the shoulder of my body suit and threw it with more force and anger than I ever had before. The knife implanted itself within the birds back. I thought the bird would die straight away, but it turned it's head towards the wound, turned back around and began crying. Huge wails came from it's mouth as it beat its wings, huge droplets of ice falling towards us.

I managed to push Griffin away, taking the full force of the giant icicle on my back. I scream. I can't feel my back. What if I'm paralysed?

The bird flies away, towards the Cornucopia.

I try to get up, my back giving way. The bird wasn't meant for us. It had a target. Storm. Of course they were going to leave us two for the finale. Lovers pitted against each other. The Capitol love that sort of thing.

"We can't just leave Storm, we have to save him." I croak, I can even feel through my voice the effect that the impact had.

"It'll kill him, they want us two left." He says, spitting the blood from his mouth on the floor.

"No, not happening." I reply.

I struggle to my feet, excruciating pain rippling up my spine. As I stumble towards the Cornucopia I find I'm too late. The bird has once again taken to the sky and I hear another piercing cry, but it's not the eagle's. I can just about see a silhoutte in the birds huge claws.

"It's got him!" I scream as the bird turns its wings and flies towards us.

The bird releases its claws, leaving me to watch Storm fall to the ground, almost in slow motion. His arms are flailing and there is a chilling noise escaping deep from his throat. The view of the moon is temporarily blocked by his plummeting body, before he lands right next to me with a sickening bump.

My body shakes as I don't want to look to my side. I take a deep breath and turn my head slowly, his neck bent to one side, his eyes wide open. Droplets of water fall on his lifeless body as the sky pours with rain.

The perfect weather to mourn.

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**Hey guys, I hope you like this chapter, I'm so sorry it took so long, I've got loads of revision for my final exams. But yeah, only Pippa and Griffin left now. What will happen? Please, please tell me what you think; I appreciate all of your reviews so much. Thank you!**


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